Planning Consent Awarded

Dogger Bank D, a proposed fourth phase of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm with a capacity of up to 1.5 GW, is being advanced as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under the UK Planning Act 2008. Because the project exceeds 100 MW, development must be authorised through a Development Consent Order (DCO). The project materials explain that the DCO application will be examined by the Planning Inspectorate, which manages the NSIP planning process, while the final decision to grant or refuse development consent will rest with the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Timescales published by the developer are explicitly described as indicative. The statutory consultation boards set out an updated consenting timeline in which the DCO application is planned for submission in Summer 2026, followed by acceptance and examination running from Summer 2026 to Autumn 2027. Within this timeline, the boards highlight “Winter 2028” as the expected period for both the Examining Authority’s recommendation and the Secretary of State’s decision on the DCO application. Earlier, the non‑statutory consultation brochure had indicated an expected recommendation and decision in Winter 2027 for an application also targeted in 2026, but the later statutory consultation material shifts this decision milestone back by roughly a year, signalling revised expectations for the duration of the examination and decision stages. Under the NSIP process described, the Examining Authority has six months for examination and three months to prepare its recommendation, after which the Secretary of State normally has three months to issue a decision. For Dogger Bank D, the Winter 2028 window therefore represents the currently anticipated timing for the award of planning consent via the DCO, after which construction is indicated as likely to start in 2029. All these timings remain indicative and depend on successful completion of consultation, environmental assessment work, and examination.