North Falls is a proposed extension to the southern array of the Greater Gabbard offshore wind development, located in the southern North Sea roughly 40 km off the East Anglia coast. The project is being developed as a 50:50 joint venture between SSE Renewables and RWE and sits within a defined d...
On 15 January 2026, the Minister for Energy Consumers, on behalf of the Secretary of State, announced that the decision deadline on North Falls Offshore Wind Farm’s DCO application had been extended, delaying the consent decision until 28 April 2026 and requiring further information to be submitted by the applicant.
The six‑month examination period for the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm DCO officially concluded on 28 July 2025 following hearings, written submissions and site inspections, after which the Planning Inspectorate had three months to prepare its recommendation report for the Secretary of State.
On 15 July 2025, North Falls published a Clean Revision 3 of its Outline Cable Specification and Installation Plan (Document 9.53), updating the principles governing the design, installation, maintenance and operation of the project’s offshore export cables within the Offshore Cable Corridor for the purposes of the DCO examination and associated Deemed Marine Licence condition.
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Owners
North Falls Offshore Wind Farm, North Falls OWF, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Limited, North Falls Extension Project, North Falls, EN010119, NorthFallsOffshore.com, Crown Estate Agreement for Lease (Extension)
On 9 May 2025, The Crown Estate confirmed it would proceed with its Capacity Increase Programme, and following a plan‑level Habitats Regulations Assessment and derogation agreed by the Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero, seabed rights for seven offshore wind farms including North Falls were approved for capacity increases, enabling additional generation within existing lease areas.
In April 2025, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Limited issued Revision 0 of its Outline Cable Specification and Installation Plan (OCSIP) for the transmission assets as a Deadline 4 submission in the DCO Examination. The OCSIP sets out the principles governing the design, installation, maintenance and operation of the offshore export cables within the Offshore Cable Corridor, including associated seabed preparation, and establishes how the final Cable Specification and Installation Plan will be developed and approved by the Marine Management Organisation under the transmission assets’ deemed marine licence in the draft Development Consent Order.
A Preliminary Meeting for the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm DCO examination was held on 27 January 2025, formally opening the six‑month examination phase and agreeing procedural matters for how the application would be examined.
On 10 December 2024, the Examining Authority issued a Rule 6 letter for North Falls setting out the initial assessment of principal issues to be examined during the DCO process.
By 18 October 2024, the Planning Inspectorate had completed receipt of Relevant Representations and the identification of Interested Parties and affected persons for the North Falls DCO, closing the registration and representation stage ahead of examination.
On 13 September 2024, an Examining Authority for the North Falls DCO was formally appointed by the Planning Inspectorate, confirmed via a Rule 4 letter issued under sections 61 and 65 of the Planning Act 2008.
On 22 August 2024, the Planning Inspectorate accepted North Falls Offshore Wind Farm’s Development Consent Order (DCO) application for examination on behalf of the Secretary of State, moving the project into the pre-examination phase of the NSIP consenting process.
By July 2024, North Falls was actively participating in the UK government’s Offshore Transmission Network Review (OTNR), engaging in technical, regulatory, and programme discussions with Ofgem, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, third-party transmission providers, and other stakeholders. This participation focuses on addressing challenges to developing a feasible, practicable coordinated offshore grid connection as a potential alternative to the onshore grid connection in Tendring, Essex, for the project’s transmission system.
In July 2024, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Limited submitted its Environmental Statement, including Chapter 6 on Environmental Impact Assessment Methodology prepared in accordance with the Planning Act 2008 and the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017, as part of the project’s EIA documentation.
North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Limited submitted its Development Consent Order (DCO) application on 26 July 2024 to the Planning Inspectorate, seeking development consent for the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm extension and its associated onshore and offshore infrastructure as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.
North Falls undertook a further targeted pre-application consultation between 14 March 2024 and 22 April 2024 on localised changes to the onshore PEIR boundary/DCO boundary, providing an additional (final) consultation stage prior to submission.
In March and April 2024, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Limited undertook Stage 4 targeted consultation, focusing on proposed localised changes to the project’s onshore PEIR boundary and informing ongoing discussions with land interests and the detailed design of proposed highway improvements related to the onshore cable route and substation.
On 28 March 2024, a consortium of parties led by North Falls submitted a high-level feasibility study under the Offshore Coordination Support Scheme, assessing a coordinated offshore grid connection option for the project. The study evaluated the feasibility of a coordinated offshore transmission solution in terms of capital costs, technical building blocks, construction and commissioning methodologies, and overall programme, to inform how North Falls’ export and grid connection assets could be integrated into an offshore coordinated network. Although subsequent funding was not continued, the coordinated offshore connection option remains included within North Falls’ DCO application as an alternative to the onshore Tendring grid connection.
In December 2023, a consortium led by North Falls was awarded grant funding by the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero under the Offshore Coordination Support Scheme (OCSS) to develop a coordinated offshore grid connection option for the North Falls transmission system and associated projects.
By 2023, the programme of onshore and offshore surveys and studies, environmental assessment and project‑level habitats regulations assessment for the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm and associated infrastructure had been carried out, providing the environmental information base for the project’s Development Consent Order application.
The project’s statutory consultation focused on the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) ran from 16 May 2023 to 14 July 2023, confirming the PEIR consultation took place in 2023.
North Falls published its Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC) in Spring 2023 (document cover: "Published in accordance with Section 47(6) of the Planning Act 2008 – Spring 2023"). This confirms the SoCC publication occurred, later than the originally projected summer 2022.
On 16 May 2023, the SSE Renewables and RWE joint venture developing North Falls launched its Stage 3 statutory consultation, inviting communities and stakeholders to comment on detailed proposals for the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm and its transmission system, including three options for transmission infrastructure, an onshore grid connection in Tendring, Essex, and underground export cables from landfall near Frinton-on-Sea to a new onshore substation.
North Falls carried out a pre-application public consultation (non-statutory stage 2) between 17 October 2022 and 9 December 2022, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to comment on the project’s proposals.
From October to December 2022, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Limited carried out Stage 2 pre-application consultation on the project’s progress, focused on the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) and updated proposals, including the onshore project area for export cables and the new onshore substation in Tendring, Essex.
By May 2022, North Falls had defined an onshore Area of Search on the Tendring peninsula, extending from the coast around the edge of Clacton to Lawford, which is reflected in the project’s onshore scoping boundary and underpins high-level site selection for the new onshore substation and associated cable route.
North Falls established a landfall Area of Search between Clacton-on-Sea and Frinton-on-Sea in Essex for the offshore export cable landfall, defined on the basis of technical considerations and feasibility studies and to be refined through a dedicated site selection process.
By May 2022, North Falls had commenced and was undertaking ongoing geophysical surveys, alongside other offshore investigations, to characterise the seabed and inform the design and routing of the offshore export cable corridor and array area.
By May 2022, North Falls had started and was carrying out ongoing environmental and other non-geophysical surveys, including ornithology, marine mammals, and shipping and navigation surveys, as part of its offshore site investigations to support environmental assessment and project design.
North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Limited held its first public consultation in late 2021, introducing the proposed extension project, outlining early design and environmental information, and gathering initial feedback from local stakeholders and communities.
In 2021, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Ltd prepared and submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Report to the Planning Inspectorate, requesting a formal scoping opinion under Regulation 10 of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 to define the scope and methodology for the project’s EIA in support of its future Development Consent Order (DCO) application.
Between October and December 2021, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Limited held its Stage 1 introductory public consultation, a non-statutory pre-application engagement on the project’s early proposals, including the offshore wind farm and associated transmission infrastructure such as the export cable route and onshore substation in Tendring, Essex.
Between Q4 2020 and Q2 2021 North Falls undertook a site selection process for the offshore export cable corridor, using workshops and stakeholder consultation to refine an initial wide area of search into shortlist options, culminating in a final route selection in March 2021 for a corridor running between the North Falls southern array boundary and the North Essex coast, including a north–south array interconnector corridor.
From 2020, North Falls undertook onshore and offshore surveys and studies, together with project planning and design, stakeholder consultation, environmental assessment and a project‑level habitats regulations assessment to support development of the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm and its associated infrastructure.
In summer 2020, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm executed an Agreement for Lease with The Crown Estate, making the seabed lease for the Greater Gabbard southern-array extension legally binding and enabling more detailed project development to proceed.
In autumn 2020, SSE Renewables and RWE signed a shareholder agreement to jointly develop the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm, including its associated transmission system. The agreement established a 50/50 joint venture company, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Limited, through which the partners will own and develop the project’s offshore export cables, offshore substations, onshore export cable route and onshore substation needed to connect the wind farm to the national electricity transmission system.
In August 2019, after a plan-level Habitats Regulations Assessment of the proposed extension projects, The Crown Estate confirmed that the Greater Gabbard Extension, subsequently renamed North Falls Offshore Wind Farm, was among seven projects to be awarded an Agreement for Lease for its extension area.
In April 2019, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm requested a grid connection agreement from National Grid for its planned export connection on the Tendring peninsula in Essex, initiating the formal grid application process while National Grid evaluated potential onshore connection points and the location of a new substation near Lawford.
In February 2017, following The Crown Estate’s launch of an opportunity for existing wind farms to apply for project extensions, North Falls Offshore Wind Farm Limited applied for a seabed lease to develop an extension immediately adjacent to the western boundary of the existing Greater Gabbard arrays in the southern North Sea.
Following the initial Offshore Coordination Support Scheme (OCSS) award, the UK Secretary of State subsequently decided not to grant further OCSS funding to the consortium led by North Falls, although an offshore coordinated grid connection option for the North Falls transmission system remains included within the project’s Development Consent Order (DCO) application.
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