The UK Planning Inspectorate has completed examination of Vattenfall’s development consent order application for the 1800MW Norfolk Vanguard project, located 47 kilometres off the east coast of England.
The Planning Inspectorate will send its recommendation to the UK Secretary of State for Business Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy by 30 September.
A Vattenfall spokesperson told reNEWS the Secretary of State will then have until 10 December to green light the project.
The developer wants to deploy up to 180 turbines with maximum tip heights of 350 metres and rotors up to 303 metres wide at the project.
Monopile and transition piece, gravity base and piled or suction jackets all remain as possible foundations in the project’s design envelope, planning documents show.
Vanguard will be split across an an eastern and western array and offshore construction for the project is expected to start in the mid-2020s.
Vattenfall has also submitted Vanguard’s sister project, Norfolk Boreas, for examination by the Planning Inspectorate.
Planning authorities will have until 9 July to decide whether to accept the project for examination, the spokesperson said.
If accepted, the Planning Inspectorate will set out a timetable for public consultation over proposed development, with a decision on a DCO due by late 2020.