Vattenfall will kick off the statutory consultation process on the Thanet Extension offshore wind farm project to get feedback on the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR).
Vattenfall has now compiled the results of the surveys and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) into the PEIR, which will be presented and discussed during the statutory consultation phase from 27 November until 12 January.
According to Vattenfall, after introducing the project and publishing a Scoping Report, the company has used the feedback from the Planning Inspectorate and a wide range of stakeholders, including Thanet’s local communities, to refine the project design for the EIA and statutory consultation stage.
The company sees shipping and navigational safety as one of the key issues, and has thus been working with the Port of London Authority to understand any potential interactions between Thanet Extension and local pilotage operations. A number of studies have been completed, including a pilot transfer bridge simulation, which will inform a Navigational Risk Assessment (NRA) to be submitted alongside the Development Consent Order (DCO) application, the company said.
A preferred onshore substation site has been identified at Richborough Port and preferred cable landfall at Pegwell Bay, Vattenfall said, adding that there are two options being considered for routing cables onshore from landfall to the substation site.
Earlier this month, the company announced it is seeking views from Thanet and Sandwich residents on plans to use up to 34 wind turbines, up to 250 meters tall, for the proposed wind farm offshore Kent, UK.
In May, an independent survey including 748 residents was conducted by Lake Market Research on behalf of Vattenfall, showing that 60% of the respondents said that the Thanet Extension offshore wind farm was a good idea, 29% stated they were not sure, while the remaining 11% claimed it was not a good idea.
If consented by the UK Government, Thanet Extension will extend the existing 300MW Thanet offshore wind farm consisting of 100 turbines. With fewer turbines, the extension will produce more power than the seven-year-old project which was at the time of its inauguration the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Vattenfall said.