Orsted and BP have reached an agreement to end their dispute over an overlapping area of seabed between the proposed 2600MW Hornsea 4 wind farm and the oil and gas major’s planned carbon capture and storage project off east England.
BP will not express further objection to the Hornsea 4 development consent order application and will withdraw all prior representations, according to a letter published by the UK Planning Inspectorate.
Orsted and BP have agreed that there are no requirements for protective provisions under the Hornsea 4, stated the document.
A spokesperson for Ørsted, said: “We are pleased to confirm that we have now reached a commercial agreement that will allow both Hornsea 4 and Endurance projects to move forward.
“We have worked constructively with BP, The Crown Estate and other stakeholders for over two years to find a pragmatic solution that will secure the future of both projects. Now that an agreement has been reached, we await the determination from the Secretary of State on planning consent which is expected on July 12th.
“This bespoke way forward is good news for both projects, however it remains clear that a long-term solution to co-location needs to be found in order to safeguard future offshore projects.”
The objection first emerged last year when Orsted accused the fossil fuel giant of attempting to block the wind farm.
BP previously said that Orsted should be excluded from installing any turbines at the site because doing so would render its carbon capture and storage project “unviable”.
However, the Danish developer argued that co-existence between the two developments is possible.