Representation by East Anglia ONE North Limited (East Anglia ONE North Limited)
- Date submitted
- 30 September 2020
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Introduction This Relevant Representation is submitted by East Anglia ONE North Limited in relation to the Development Consent Order (DCO) application for the proposed Sizewell C Project (PINS ref: EN010012). East Anglia ONE North Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of ScottishPower Renewables (UK) Limited (SPR) which in turn is part of the Iberdrola Group, a world leader in clean energy and the leading wind energy producer worldwide. East Anglia ONE North Limited is seeking development consent for the proposed East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarm Project (the East Anglia ONE North Project), which is scheduled to commence Examination on 7 October 2020. The East Anglia ONE North Project will have an operational capacity of up to 900MW and will include onshore and offshore infrastructure, some of which is in the vicinity of the proposed Sizewell C Project. Background The National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure (EN-3) identifies the need for 25 GW of new offshore wind-derived generating capacity in the UK Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) and the territorial waters of England and Wales. More recently, the UK’s target for installed offshore wind energy has been raised to 40 GW by 2030. As the East Anglia ONE North Project contributes to addressing this need, East Anglia ONE North Limited considers that the delivery of the Sizewell C Project should not adversely impact the construction and/or operation of the East Anglia ONE North Project. In developing the proposed East Anglia ONE North Project, East Anglia ONE North representatives have engaged proactively with Sizewell C representatives to better understand the scope and impact of the proposed Sizewell C Project and its potential cumulative and in-combination effects, in particular on transport related matters, and we will continue to engage as our projects progress through their respective Examinations and beyond. East Anglia ONE North Limited attends regular forums which promote collaboration and communication amongst energy project representatives, such as the Suffolk Energy Coast Delivery Board. These forums have proven to be an effective means of communicating and collaborating on our respective projects and we will continue to proactively participate in these forums. Onshore Matters The Order limits for the East Anglia ONE North Project and proposed Sizewell C Project overlap in three areas of the public highway, namely: • Sizewell Gap (close to the Junction of Sizewell Gap/King George’s Avenue); • Junction of A12/A1094 (Friday Street); and • Junction of A1094/A1069 (Snape Road). East Anglia ONE North Limited will continue to liaise with Sizewell C Project representatives in order to understand the nature of the works proposed and explore opportunities for co-ordinating works in these areas which will be to the benefit of the wider community. East Anglia ONE North Limited however must not be hindered from undertaking the necessary works or maintaining the necessary access for the East Anglia ONE North Project as a result of the Sizewell C Project works at these locations, or indeed within the public highway in general, and will seek such assurances during the Sizewell C Project Examination. Offshore Matters Over the course of 2017/2018, when establishing the boundary of the East Anglia ONE North Project’s offshore export cable corridor, the latest publicly available information on the Sizewell C Project was referred to, specifically Figure 7.2 of the SZC Stage 2 consultation (published on 23-11-16) which “shows the main development site in the wider context and includes areas required offshore for cooling water and marine transport infrastructure.” The boundary of the East Anglia ONE North offshore export cable corridor, which was presented to the Sizewell C Project by East Anglia ONE North representatives in February 2018, was developed to ensure the following (amongst other matters): • No interaction of offshore order limits between the Sizewell C Project and the East Anglia ONE North Project; • An appropriate separation distance from the proposed Sizewell C Project’s cooling water intake infrastructure; • Sufficient flexibility to microsite the offshore export cable to take into account environmental and technical constraints identified during pre-construction surveys; and • Delivery of the offshore export cable in an efficient and economical way. The SZC Stage 3 and Stage 4 consultation (published 04-01-19 and 18-07-19 respectively) and the subsequent application for the proposed Sizewell C Project presented a significant increase to the proposed SZC offshore development area from that published within the SZC Stage 2 consultation, to the extent that it now overlaps with the Order limits of the proposed East Anglia ONE North Project. East Anglia ONE North Limited note that whilst the Sizewell C Project’s Work Nos. 2B, 2D and 2F fall outside the East Anglia ONE North Project’s Order limits, there remains an overlap in the Order limits. East Anglia ONE North Limited must not be hindered from undertaking the necessary works for the East Anglia ONE North Project as a result of the Sizewell C Project works at these locations and will seek such assurances during the Sizewell C Project Examination. East Anglia ONE North Limited reserves the right to make further comments through the Sizewell C Project Examination process. Statement of Common Ground East Anglia ONE North Limited requests that the Sizewell C Project enter into a Statement of Common Ground with East Anglia ONE North Limited in order to progress the above matters and to provide the opportunity to establish a clear understanding of the interactions between both projects. Ongoing Engagement East Anglia ONE North Limited will continue to liaise with Sizewell C Project representatives in order to understand the nature of the works proposed and their timing, and to explore opportunities for co-ordination of overlapping works which will be to the benefit of the wider community. Interested Party By this Relevant Representation submission, we request that East Anglia ONE North Limited is treated as an Interested Party throughout the Examination for the proposed Sizewell C Project (PINS ref: EN010012).