We appreciate that a number of major infrastructure projects working in close proximity presents the potential for confusion and we understand that this can be burdensome for people.
On this page we have provided a brief explanation of Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm and National Grid Electricity Transmission’s (NGET) Norwich to Tilbury Project, and how they relate to North Falls Offshore Wind Farm.
Please also refer to our Coordination Report for more information regarding how the Project has coordinated with these two neighbouring projects.
National Grid Electricity Transmission’s (NGET) East Anglia Connection Node – part of NGET’s Norwich to Tilbury Project – is currently the only connection option available to the Project at this point in time. However, the Project has retained three options for connecting to a National Grid connection point within our Development Consent Order (DCO) application. This includes an offshore coordinated connection option which safeguards against the possibility of the current onshore connection option changing, and a viable offshore coordinated connection option being brought forward by an alternative party that still allows the Project to be operational by 2030.
“Norwich to Tilbury is a proposal by NGET (National Grid) to reinforce the high voltage power network in East Anglia between the existing substations at Norwich Main in Norfolk, Bramford in Suffolk, and Tilbury in Essex, as well as connect new offshore wind generation.
We are proposing to build approximately 184 km of new electricity transmission reinforcement between Norwich and Tilbury.
This will be made up mostly of overhead line and pylons, along with some underground cables and a new 400 kV substation. Our proposals are part of The Great Grid Upgrade – the largest overhaul of the grid in generations.”
North Falls and Five Estuaries are similar projects in close proximity and have both been allocated the same grid connection point by National Grid Electricity Systems Operator (NGESO).
The site of this connection point has been identified by NGET as being the East Anglia Connection Node (part of NGET’s Norwich to Tilbury Project).
North Falls and Five Estuaries have coordinated extensively on their development proposals, to include:
Furthermore, North Falls and Five Estuaries have coordinated during the pre-application process and have undertaken joint working groups with relevant stakeholders on a number of technical matters.
Both projects are committed to ongoing coordination at the construction stage where there is the potential for coordination in delivery of the two projects. This has been facilitated within each DCO application, including the ability for one project to lay ducting for the other, and shared use of accesses and compounds.
While the Project and Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm coordinate and are similar projects in close proximity, they are ultimately separate projects with separate shareholder groupings and subject to their own programmes and DCO applications. This is why you receive separate communications from each project.
“Five Estuaries is a proposed extension to the existing Galloper Offshore Wind Farm. The new wind farm would be split across two separate seabed areas covering 128km2 in the southern North Sea and create enough energy each year to power hundreds of thousands of homes.
The project includes up to 79 turbines with a maximum tip height of 370m and would be located approximately 37km at its closest point off the coast of south Suffolk. Coming ashore at Sandy Point between Frinton-on-Sea and Holland-on-Sea in Tendring, Essex, underground cables then travel approximately 22km to a new substation located to the west of Little Bromley.
Finally connecting the power to the proposed adjacent East Anglia Connection Node substation, part of National Grid’s Norwich to Tilbury Project.”
No. Tarchon Energy interconnector is being developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
North Falls Offshore Wind Farm is being developed as a joint venture between SSE Renewables and RWE and there is no affiliation to Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
