The developers behind a giant wind farm extension being planned off the Suffolk coast are launching the second stage of a public consultation exercise.
Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm is earmarked for a site next to the existing Galloper Offshore Wind Farm, a £1.5bn scheme 30km off the coast which is providing 353MW of energy.
Landfall for the cables would be in Tendring, at a point between Frinton-on-Sea and Holland-on-Sea, and link to a substation inland south of Lawford. The substation search areas have been narrowed down to two potential areas.
The statutory eight week consultation runs from Tuesday, March 14 to Friday, May 12.
The 149km sq extension has the potential to power hundreds of thousands of homes as part of a UK-wide drive towards net zero carbon emissions, say the developers.
These are made up of the same partnership of companies which built Galloper - including a Macquarie-led consortium (25%), RWE (25%), Siemens’ financing arm, Siemens Financial Services (25%), ESB (12.5%) and Sumitomo Corporation (12.5%), with RWE leading the project.
RWE has indicated the scheme could feature up to 79 turbines across two separate seabeds, and that the expected capital investment would be around £1.5bn, with the potential to power up to 380k average UK households.
Drop-in public information events will be held in Tendring - where the onshore infrastructure would be - and in Suffolk and Kent, from where the new scheme could be visible. There are also be online webinars scheduled.
The local community is being invited to attend these and find out more about the proposals and speak to the project team.
Developers are also consulting on the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) which sets out the current environmental baseline, and potential benefits and impacts - as well as proposed approaches to removing or reducing any impacts identified.
Information on the consultation events, the proposals and associated documentation is available to view at www.fiveestuaries.co.uk.
The events will take place at Ardleigh, Frinton-on-Sea, Tendring Village Hall, Lawford Felixstowe, Southwold, Leiston, Aldeburgh and Thorpe le Soken on various dates.
Selected documents have also been made available at various public venues for viewing. Details of these can also be found on the website.
Feedback on the published documents is important and will help to shape final proposals. Feedback can be provided on the project website, by email or in writing, say the developers.
Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm is still in its development stage, and it is anticipated that an application will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate towards the end of 2023.
If approved, construction would begin in 2027 and the project would become operational around 2030.
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