Regulatory Other

In July 2022, RWE submitted a Scoping Report for the Dogger Bank South (DBS) offshore wind projects, which comprise the Dogger Bank South East and Dogger Bank South West sites, to the UK Planning Inspectorate. This submission formed a key step in the Planning Act 2008 pre-application process, ensuring that the proposed 3 GW of offshore wind capacity on Dogger Bank would be subject to an appropriately defined scope of environmental and technical assessment. By preparing and lodging the Scoping Report at its own development risk, RWE signalled its intent to fast-track the Dogger Bank South developments in support of the UK Government’s net zero goals. The Planning Inspectorate’s role at this stage is to review the Scoping Report and respond with a formal Scoping Opinion that confirms the range of issues, receptors, and study areas that must be addressed in subsequent application documents, such as the Environmental Impact Assessment and Development Consent Order (DCO) submission. For Dogger Bank South East, this regulatory interaction helps to frame the baseline studies and impact assessments that will underpin its future consent application. The Scoping Report submission therefore marks the transition from initial project definition into a more structured engagement with the UK’s nationally significant infrastructure planning regime. This milestone also provides stakeholders and statutory bodies with early visibility of the project’s likely parameters and potential onshore and offshore impacts. It lays the groundwork for later consultation phases, the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR), and ultimately the planned Development Consent application, ensuring that Dogger Bank South East progresses within a clearly defined regulatory and environmental framework.