UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has extended the deadline for deciding whether to grant development consent for RWE’s 1.1-gigawatt (GW) Five Estuaries offshore wind farm by three months, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said on Monday.
The original statutory deadline of Sept. 17 has been moved to Dec. 17 to allow time for the government to request further information not provided during the examination phase and to give all stakeholders a chance to review and comment.
“I have decided to allow an extension. This is to allow time to request further information that was not provided for consideration during the examination period and to allow all interested parties the opportunity to review and comment on such information,” Miliband told Parliament. “While it is not my preference to extend, I am clear that applications for consent for energy projects submitted under the Planning Act 2008 must meet the necessary standards.”
If approved, the project will consist of 79 turbines and is expected to begin producing electricity by 2030. It is planned as an extension to RWE’s existing 353 MW Galloper offshore wind farm and will connect to the National Grid’s East Anglia Connection Node near Lawford, Essex.
