Equinor is bringing forward proposals to extend the existing Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farms, located off the coast of North Norfolk, having published the summary report from its first phase of community consultations.
The proposed Sheringham Shoal Extension and Dudgeon Extension wind farms would be built adjacent to the existing wind farms, bringing the total capacity up to 1.44GW.
As part of the development process, early stage proposals were presented locally and online for feedback from the community and key stakeholders.
The phase one community consultation ran from 9 July until 20 August 2020.
Due to COVID-19, it included hosting a virtual exhibition to display all the project information and this was supported by advertisements in local newsletters, posters displayed in local information points, the distribution of a community consultation leaflet to over 11,000 Norfolk households and businesses and virtual engagement with parish, district and county councillors across the consultation area.
There were over 1700 visits to the virtual exhibition and almost 300 pieces of feedback were received during the consultation period.
Equinor Sheringham and Dudgeon Extension project manager Kari-Hege Mork said: “We are very grateful to everyone who took the time to visit our virtual exhibition and provide comments.
“Engaging early with communities local to our two projects has been valuable for capturing feedback to inform the next phase.
“All of the feedback has been thoroughly reviewed and is being considered as we refine our proposals. Responses to all feedback received throughout the development process will be provided in our final Consultation Report when we submit our DCO application.”
Most people said they were supportive of the proposals, Equinor claimed, and a large amount of valuable information was provided on key topics for the project team to consider when developing the proposals.
These included the management of the traffic, access, and noise and vibration considerations during the construction of the onshore infrastructure.
Ecology and nature conservation, visual impacts both onshore and offshore and consideration of the cumulative effects of other infrastructure developments in Norfolk were also highlighted as areas of particular importance to the local community.
A high-level overview of all the feedback received during the first consultation is presented in the summary report available now.
A more detailed report, along with on-going surveys and technical investigations will be shared in the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) for phase two of the community consultation.
This second phase of community consultation will be held in spring 2021 when Equinor will present its refined plans, inviting comments to its PEIR and providing additional information including visualisations of what the projects will look like onshore and from the coast.
As both Sheringham Shoal Extension and Dudgeon Extension are classed as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, Equinor will apply for a Development Consent Order from the Secretary of State for BEIS by the end of 2021.