On 17 April 2024, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero granted development consent for the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Extension Projects, authorising the wind farm extensions and a joint offshore and onshore export cable system connecting to the national transmission network at National Grid’s Norwich Main substation. This Development Consent Order enables Equinor and its partners to proceed with the UK’s first shared offshore transmission system for two separately owned wind farm extensions, including shared transmission cables and a common onshore cable route.
On 20 April 2023, Equinor initiated a targeted public consultation on a proposed change to the SEP & DEP onshore cable route around the Food Enterprise Park, publishing materials for stakeholders to view and comment on. This targeted consultation focused specifically on refinements to the shared onshore transmission corridor for the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon extension grid connection.
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SEP/DEP Shared Transmission is the coordinated offshore export and grid-connection system for Equinor’s Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm Extension Project (SEP) and Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm Extension Project (DEP) off the North Norfolk coast. The system will collect power from up to two offs...
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SEP & DEP Shared Transmission, Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Extension shared transmission, Sheringham Shoal Extension Project and Dudgeon Extension Project grid connection, SEP & DEP OTNR Pathfinder grid connection, Integrated Transmission System for the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Extensions, Scira-Dudgeon Extension
After the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Extension Projects’ Development Consent Order application for the wind farm extensions and integrated transmission system was accepted for examination, the Planning Inspectorate ran a statutory Relevant Representation period during which members of the public and other stakeholders could register as Interested Parties and submit formal representations on the proposals. This consultation window closed on 14 November 2022, after which all representations were made available on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.
On 2 September 2022, Equinor submitted its Development Consent Order application for the Sheringham Shoal Extension Project (SEP) and Dudgeon Extension Project (DEP) to the Planning Inspectorate, including environmental assessments and other supporting documents. These Environmental Impact Assessment materials cover the offshore wind farm extensions and the associated integrated transmission system needed to connect the projects to National Grid’s Norwich Main substation.
On 2 September 2022, Equinor announced that the Sheringham Shoal Extension Project (SEP) and Dudgeon Extension Project (DEP), including their integrated shared transmission system with a single grid connection at Norwich Main substation, had been confirmed by the UK Energy Minister as a 'Pathfinder' project under Ofgem’s Offshore Transmission Network Review (OTNR). This regulatory designation recognises SEP & DEP’s coordinated offshore HVAC grid connection as a near-term opportunity to trial and learn from better coordinated offshore transmission planning and commits the project to continued engagement with BEIS and other OTNR partners on the regulatory and policy framework for delivering the shared transmission approach.
In August 2022, a Cable Burial Risk Assessment (C‑BRA) was completed for the export cable that will connect the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farm extensions to a landfall near Weybourne on the Norfolk coast. Commissioned by Equinor and prepared by PACE Geotechnics with support from Xodus Group, the final report assessed external natural, anthropogenic and environmental risks to the shared export cable and considered trenching, burial and protection requirements along the proposed offshore cable corridor, providing key engineering input to the design of the integrated transmission link.
In August 2022, Royal HaskoningDHV and PACE completed and issued the final Export Cable Burial Risk Assessment report for the shared export cable that will connect the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon extension projects to a landfall near Weybourne, assessing external natural, anthropogenic and environmental risks to the integrated cable route in line with Carbon Trust and DNV-GL guidance.
Ahead of finalising the export cable design for the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon extensions’ shared transmission system, Equinor contracted PACE Geotechnics to carry out a Cable Burial Risk Assessment (C‑BRA) for the integrated export cable route to Weybourne landfall, with Xodus Group providing AIS data processing and environmental expertise. The August 2022 C‑BRA document records that this specialist engineering services contract was in place and had been executed to support detailed cable burial and protection design for the coordinated SEP and DEP export cable.
By November 2021, Equinor had refined the onshore export cable route for the shared transmission system serving the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farm extensions. Using feedback from phase two consultation and further environmental and technical analysis, the project team substantially reduced the size of the landfall area at Weybourne and refined the onshore cable corridor alignment from the Weybourne landfall to Bodham, as part of the coordinated cable route leading towards National Grid’s Norwich Main substation.
Equinor carried out a second phase of public consultation on the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Extension Projects (SEP and DEP), seeking feedback from local communities and stakeholders on the proposals, including the shared landfall at Weybourne and the onshore cable corridor for the integrated grid connection. This phase two consultation period concluded on 10 June 2021, and the subsequent Phase Two Consultation Summary Report records how the feedback informed refinements such as reducing the landfall area and refining the onshore cable route from Weybourne to Bodham.
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