The UK government has delayed a consent decision on Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ 480MW Morecambe offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea.
The deadline for a decision was 23 October, however, that has now been shifted to 19 December, according to Labour Minister for Energy Consumers Martin McCluskey, speaking for Energy Secretary Ed Miliband (pictured).
“This is to allow time to request further information that was not available for consideration during the examination period and to give all interested parties the opportunity to review and comment on such information,” said McCluskey.
“Whilst it is not my preference to extend, I am clear that applications for consent for energy projects submitted under the Planning Act 2008 must meet the necessary standards,” he added.
“The decision to set the new deadline for these applications is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.”
Round 4 site Morecambe is located 30km off Lancashire and was acquired this year by the Danish developer from Flotation Energy and Cobra.
It is the second major delay to an offshore wind permitting call in a week after authorities postponed a planning decision on TotalEnergies and Corio’s proposed 1.5GW Outer Dowsing offshore wind farm off east England.