The UK government has refused planning permission for Vattenfall’s up to 340MW Thanet 2 wind farm off the south-east coast of England.
Alok Sharma, the Secretary of State at Energy Department BEIS, ruled out granting development consent due chiefly to impacts on shipping, ports and navigation.
Sharma concluded that the project off Kent “would adversely affect” commercial shipping routes including pilot transfer locations to the west and the north and that Vattenfall failed to demonstrate sufficient mitigation over navigational safety.
“The Secretary of State notes that the Examining Authority also considered at length the question of the planning balance…whether the strategic benefits of the proposed development would outweigh the negative effects and concluded that it was not so,” added the adjudication.
Vattenfall had sought consent for up to 34 turbines at the project adjacent to its operational Thanet wind farm.
Country manager Danielle Lane said the developer will consider how to proceed following the decision.
“Naturally we’re very disappointed by this decision,” she said.
“We continue to believe that Thanet Extension would be an important development for the local area, for UK energy security, and for the drive to reduce emissions.”
Commenting on the decision RenewableUK chief executive Hugh McNeal said: “The UK urgently needs new generating capacity to replace old power stations which are going offline and to reach net zero emissions.
“The Government has set a target of quadrupling offshore wind capacity to 40GW by 2030 and if that’s to be achieved we need new projects to progress.
“Offshore wind is regenerating coastal communities by providing billions of pounds of new investment and boosting employment, so it’s unfortunate that Kent won’t be able to benefit from those opportunities as a result of this decision.”