Neutral
Informational - no clear directional impact
Low Impact
Minor progress or informational
On 17 November 2009, DONG Energy (now Ørsted) submitted the main planning and development consent application for the Westermost Rough Offshore Wind Farm to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) under Section 36 of the Electricity Act. The UK Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) records this as the “Planning Application Submitted” date for the 210 MW “Westermost Rough A” offshore wind project, with DECC (S36) listed as the planning authority and Round 2 as the offshore wind licensing round. This formal application followed technical and environmental preparation, including an Environmental Statement completed in October 2009, which was explicitly prepared to support the project’s consent, licences and permissions, as referenced in later project documentation. Subsequent materials show how this submission initiated the statutory consent process. The Westermost Rough Pre-construction Environmental Monitoring Report notes that the original consents for the wind farm were granted in 2010 and later amended in 2012 following an alteration to the project envelope, indicating that the 2009 application successfully progressed through review and determination. In parallel, the Marine Management Organisation later reported that it licensed DONG Energy to construct Westermost Rough in November 2011 after careful consideration of the application and its supporting Environmental Statement, reinforcing that a comprehensive application package had been lodged and assessed. Together, these sources confirm that the Section 36 planning consent application for Westermost Rough was formally submitted in November 2009, marking the key regulatory gateway into detailed examination and, ultimately, approval of the project.