Dudgeon and Sheringham, both in Norfolk, have been granted permission to double their capacity
Before we delve into the details, let’s look at these two sites in some detail.
Sheringham Shoal
Sheringham itself is a very pleasant coastal town in north Norfolk. It is renowned for its Heritage Steam Railway, its long fishing and farming history, as well as being a favoured tourism spot. The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban District Council, is Mare Ditat Pinusque Decorat, Latin for “The sea enriches and the pine adorns”. It is only small, however, with a population of under 8000 but 11 miles away, 88 Siemens Wind Power 3.6MW turbines dot the seascape with an output (currently) of 316.8 MW across its 14 mile girth.
Dudgeon
Dudgeon is closer to Sheringham’s bigger coastal neighbour, Cromer. It is further out at sea (20 miles from Cromer), with 67 Siemens Gamesa × 6 MW turbines producing a higher maximum output of 402 MW. Cromer, like Sheringham, is a popular tourist town. It has a pier, with RNLI station, beaches renowned for fossils and a quirky town centre that has seen rejuvenation in the past decade. Arguably, too, the finest fish and chips at No1 Cromer, with incredible views from its coastal perch.
The team at HSEQ-360 Limited are big fans of both towns.
Equinor
Equinor, the owner of Dudgeon and Sheringham, have just submitted plans to double each wind farm’s capacity, meaning its energy could power another 785,000 homes on top of its current outputs.
53 new wind turbines are expected to be installed on the two sites.
Halfdan Brustad, the vice-president of Equinor, said:
“We look forward to contributing even more positively to the local region and the UK’s offshore wind growth.”
The new plans
These exciting plans include:
- Up to two offshore transformer substations
- A marine connection to the shore with subsea electrical circuits
- A 60m wide export cable corridor to the landfall in Weybourne
- A proposed permanent development area for the onshore substation would be located north of Swainsthorpe
So far feedback for these plans is positive
Katie-jo Luxton, the director of conservation at The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, says this:
“Offshore wind has an essential part to play in decarbonising our energy systems to achieve net zero and mitigate the effects of climate change.
“The approval of Dudgeon and Sheringham extensions will now also impact vital colonies of amber-listed sandwich terns from north Norfolk.”
Avian approval then following our last post about biomimicry.
Halfdan Brustad adds:
“We are delighted with the secretary of state’s decision to award consent, doubling the capacity of the existing projects, and clearing the way forward to significantly contribute to the UK’s offshore wind and net-zero targets by 2030.
“The extension projects have been developed carefully over the last five years, with innovative approaches to transmission planning and consenting, underpinned by close engagement with the local community.
“The extensions build on our longstanding presence in Norfolk and we look forward to contributing even more positively to the local region and the UK’s offshore wind growth.”
Great news then for the growing Norfolk offshore wind industry and the bigger national and global picture.
Cromer and Sheringham, regardless of our preference, for either pleasant Norfolk towns, each have bright offshore futures.
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