Business Secretary Alok Sharma is “minded to approve” Orsted’s next huge offshore wind farm, Hornsea Three, but it comes with a further delay.
The 2.4GW project, located in the developing zone out of the Humber - already home to the world’s largest farm, Hornsea One - will not now get a final decision until later this year.
Compensatory measures to protect the kittiwake seabirds of Flamborough and Filey Coast Special Protection Area need to be secured before he will sanction the development.
It would see the senior cabinet figure go against the recommendation of the Planning Inspectorate, where a panel of four examining inspectors attached “significant weight” to identified harm in relation to the offshore ecology, with ornithology and cable route concerns.
Mr Sharma, the third figure to lead the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy while the multi-billion pound project has been considered, found it was outweighed by the importance attached to the “substantial contribution” Hornsea Three would make towards the delivery of renewable energy. He also acknowledged the socio-economic impact highlighted, with the project the largest of those that will ultimately secure more than 400 direct jobs in Grimsby, with hundreds more in the supply chain, and again in construction.
The 231 turbine array sits the furthest off the East Yorkshire coast, home to the largest seabird colonies in the 海角视频.
And unlike Hornea One, and Hornsea Two - set to enter offshore construction imminently - power would come onshore in North Norfolk - a protected Natura 2000 site - rather than the Lincolnshire coast, where they connect to the grid at North Killingholme.
This is intended to feed into a substation on the outskirts of Norwich.
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It led to special assessments of North Norfolk Sandbanks and Saturn Reef Special Area of Conservation, The Wash and North Norfolk Coast Special Area of Conservation, with Cromer Shoal Chalk Beds and Markham’s Triangle Marine Conservation Zone all flagged up.
But it is the impact on the cliff-nesting gulls that remains a red flag. Compensation security is now sought by the end of September, with a deadline for a decision set to the year-end.
An Ørsted spokesperson said: "We are pleased that the Secretary of State is minded to grant consent and recognises the contribution the project would make towards the national need for renewable energy. We are now reviewing the full detail of his comments and, while disappointed at the further delay, are confident of providing the evidence requested to ensure that consent will be granted later this year. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders and local communities as we look to take the project forward sensitively and sustainably."
Thanking all involved for feedback that has helped shape proposals, they added: "Climate change is a defining challenge of our time and there is an ever pressing need to act. Hornsea Three is a major infrastructure project which responds directly to the urgent need for low-carbon generation at scale in the 海角视频 and can contribute to a green economic recovery. Once complete, the project will be capable of providing clean electricity to more than two million 海角视频 households, offsetting over 128 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime."
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As it is awaited Hornsea Four, smaller and the closest to the coast of the entire zone - bringing power onshore at Barmston, feeding into a substation north of Hull - is also being brought forward, with anticipation of a submission to the Planning Inspectorate in the coming months.
Build-out of Hornsea Two, co-ordinated from Humberside Airport, will also begin shortly.
They form key elements of the path to 10GW of offshore wind operated and maintained from Grimsby.