Westermost Rough

Westermost Rough Wind Farm is a proposed offshore wind farm to be located 8km north east of Withernsea off the Holderness coast, in the North Sea, England. It is being developed by Westermost Rough Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dong Energy.^[1] The farm will stand in water between depths of 12 and 22m and will cover an area of approximately 35 sq km.

In 2007 Westermost Rough Ltd was awarded a lease from The Crown Estate to develop a wind farm at Westermost Rough after Total Energie who originally won the "Round 2" tendering process, withdrew from the project.^[2]

The project includes constructing the wind turbines and their foundations, building offshore substations, installing power cables both undersea and a 15km onshore cable and a new electrical substation required for connection into the UK National Grid near Salt End, east of Hull. This work is estimated to take about 2 years.

The wind farm planning application was filed in November 2009 and consent was authorised on 31 July 2011.^[3] The application is for between 35 and 80 turbines with a nameplate capacity of 240 MW. The quantity, type and capacity of turbines will depend on the type available and well proven at the time of construction.^[4]

Planning

A number of regulatory consents are required for the construction and the operation of Westermost Rough Offshore wind farm. The key consents applied for are as follows:-^[5]

• Consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to construct and operate a wind farm. This will also cover the offshore cables and other infrastructure.
• FEPA License under section 5 of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985, concerning the protection of marine ecosystems.
• Consent under section 34 of the Coast Protection Act 1949 in order to make provision for the safety of navigation in relation to the export cables.
• Planning permission under section 90 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, sought as part of the section 36 application, for the onshore elements of the works (“Deemed planning permission”).

Additionally extinguishment of public rights of navigation will be requested under the Energy Act 2004 for the areas of seabed directly covered by the offshore structures.

References