Planning Inspectorate accepts Equinor’s application for Sheringham Shoal, Dudgeon extensions

The UK Planning Inspectorate has accepted for review Equinor ASA’s (NYSE:EQNR) application for the proposed extensions to its existing Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farms in UK waters.

The Norwegian energy major is seeking a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the two projects and applied in early September. It said on Monday that before the Planning Inspectorate’s examination begins, a statutory consultation will be organised to enable stakeholders to comment on the application.

The consultation will last six weeks, until November 14, 2022.

Equinor’s submission contains a detailed description of each scheme and environmental assessments for the additional turbines and related transmission infrastructure. Once built, the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm Extensions will generate power to supply around 785,000 British homes.

Equinor is the operator of the 317-MW Sheringham Shoal and 402-MW Dudgeon wind farms off the North Norfolk coast, which are made up of 155 turbines in total. In 2020, the Norwegian group won leases from the Crown Estate to double the capacity of the two wind parks.

The Norwegian firm estimates that the two extension projects will create more than GBP 340 million (USD 387.2m/EUR 391.8m) in direct gross value added (GVA) over the construction period.

(GBP 1.0 = USD 1.139/EUR 1.152)

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