Irish Sea windfarm plan clears planning hurdle

Plans to develop a windfarm in the Irish Sea which could provide power for more than 500,000 homes have passed another milestone.
A development consent order for the project submitted by Flotation Energy has been granted by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The proposed Morecambe Offshore project is for 480 megawatts of electricity to be generated from an area south of the existing Walney windfarm, 30km off the Lancashire coast.
The application had drawn comments from existing turbine operators concerned that another development could adversely effect windfarms already producing power through the ‘wake effect’ where wind speed is reduced by other turbine rows.
The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and Stena Line also commented that the development could restrict operations, particularly during adverse weather conditions.
In a letter to the project’s developers, the Secretary of State says while he ‘agrees the yield of some projects may be slightly reduced due to wake effects’ and more emission of greenhouse gases by ferries forced to divert around the development, he concludes that ‘these impacts do not affect his overall conclusion that the proposed development would result in significant benefits in terms of reductions in GHG emissions.”
“We are extremely happy with the Secretary of State’s decision to grant a Development Consent Order for the Morecambe Generation Assets,” Oliver Gardner, consent manager for Flotation Energy, said.
“This is the culmination of around six years of work. I am grateful to the team for their considerable efforts to get the project to this stage.
“We would like to thank our stakeholders and everyone who participated in the application process for their engagement. We look forward to continuing to work with COP as we move onto the next stages of the project.”