UK energy secretary Ed Miliband has granted planning consent to JERA Nex BP and EnBW’s 1.5GW Morgan wind farm off north-west England
The 96-turbine array is the second Round 4 development to reach the milestone after Irish Sea sister array 1.5GW Mona got a permit nod in July.
A consent decision had been due by 10 September after the Planning Inspectorate finished a six-month examination of the Morgan DCO application in March.
The application had been submitted on 24 April 2024 and was accepted to examination one month later.
The project is due to connect to the National Grid’s Penwortham substation in Lancashire from the end of November 2029 via a joint transmission system with Flotation Energy and Cobra’s neighbouring 480MW Morecambe array, which is undergoing a separate DCO examination.
JERA Nex BP chief development officer Richard Sandford said: “Today we celebrate a major milestone as the Morgan generation assets project has officially received consent from the energy secretary.
“This approval marks the beginning of Morgan’s role delivering clean, dependable energy and advancing the UK’s journey to net zero.”
RenewableUK director of future electricity systems Barnaby Wharton added: “The decision to give planning consent to Morgan is a great boost for Britain’s energy system. With a substantial capacity of 1.5GW, Morgan has the potential to increase the UK’s energy security by generating homegrown clean power at a stable and predictable price, and reduce our exposure to spikes in volatile international gas prices which we can’t control.”