Morecambe Offshore Windfarm
Renewable energy is central to supporting the UK’s ambitions to lead the world in combatting climate change, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and embracing a future where renewable energy powers our homes and businesses.
Morecambe Offshore Windfarm has a nominal capacity of 480MW. That’s enough to power over half a million households. It will also contribute to the UK Government’s commitment to:
-
generate 50GW of power from offshore wind by 2030
-
reach net zero by 2050.
It is located approximately 30km from the Lancashire coast in the Eastern Irish Sea.
35
fixed bottom turbines
480MW
renewable energy
500,000
households
About Us
Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Limited, a joint venture between Zero-E Offshore Wind S.L.U. (Spain) (a COBRA group company), and Flotation Energy Limited, is developing the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm.
With 80 years of experience, COBRA is a historically significant Group in the development of industrial infrastructure and service provision, and one of the key players in the renewable energy sector in Spain and Latin America. The Group possesses the capacity and determination to develop, build, and operate industrial and energy infrastructures that demand a high level of service, grounded in excellence in integration, technological innovation, and financial robustness.
Our unrivalled knowledge and understanding of floating offshore wind developments is a significant advantage in delivering a high quality and efficient project, coupled with our commitment to environmental stewardship. Our experience as a major player in offshore wind is based on a 50 MW project in operation and over 11.2 GW under development.
Flotation Energy, headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, sits at the heart of the energy transition. It’s determined to support the big switch to sustainable, clean and affordable energy through the application of innovative offshore wind technology.
An ambitious offshore wind developer, Flotation Energy has a 13GW portfolio that covers both fixed and floating developments globally, with projects in the UK, Ireland, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. Whilst Flotation Energy develops projects independently, it also recognises the strategic value of partnership and collaboration to deliver proven, cost-effective solutions.
Community
We actively engage with our local communities, local businesses, elected members, regulators and other key stakeholders to receive feedback and help shape our plans.
We’re carrying out lots of our own technical and environmental assessments; but people living near to the proposals have local knowledge which adds real value. These could include thoughts on:
- Potential environmental or community considerations
- Community benefits
- Information that could help us plan for construction
- How we can help support jobs.
We work with local media and identify multiple channels to help promote our projects and engage with as wide an audience as possible, in the planning and delivery of our programme.
Community benefits scheme
Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Limited is fully committed to delivering a community benefits scheme in line with UK Government guidance, which is due to be published later this year.
Ahead of the guidance being published we have been working with local people, businesses and organisations to identify key themes and projects that will deliver strategic benefits and directly support the local community and local priorities.
We welcome further input from the local community to help shape the community benefits scheme and encourage you to reach out to the project team via [email protected]
Indicative Timeline
- Habitats Regulations Assessment commenced by The Crown Estate
- Non-statutory engagement begins (introductory meetings and website launch)
- Expected signing of Agreement for Lease with The Crown Estate
- Grid Connection confirmed by National Grid
- Onsite environmental studies and project planning
- Non-statutory engagement to inform the Development Consent Order
- Scoping report published for generation and transmission assets
- Scoping opinion received from the Planning Inspectorate for generation and transmission assets
- Non-statutory consultation with Government, regulators, communities and interested parties (website, working groups, meetings, forums, exhibitions)
Morecambe Offshore Windfarm: Generation Assets
Morgan and Morecambe Offshore Wind Farm: Transmission Assets
- Publication of Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC) document
- Publication of Section 47 notice (a notice publicising the SoCC)
- Publication of Section 48 (duty to publicise the proposed application for development consent)
- Submitted Section 46 notice to the Planning Inspectorate (duty to notify Secretary of State of proposed application for development consent)
- Acknowledgement letter received from the Planning Inspectorate
- Publication of Preliminary Environmental Information Report
- Statutory Consultation
Morgan and Morecambe Offshore Wind Farm: Transmission Assets
- Second round of non-statutory consultation
- Consult and publicise Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC) document
- Publicise Section 47 notice (a notice publicising the SoCC)
- Publicise Section 48 (duty to publicise the proposed application for development consent)
- Submit Section 46 notice to the Planning Inspectorate (duty to notify Secretary of State of proposed application for development consent)
- Publicise Preliminary Environmental Information Report Statutory Consultation
Morecambe Offshore Windfarm: Generation Assets
- Morecambe Generation Assets - submitted application for Development Consent Order - May 2024
- Application accepted for examination – June 2024
- Pre-examination period – June to September 2024
- Relevant representation period open – July to August 2024
- Examination commenced – October 2024
- Environmental studies ongoing
- Submit application for Development Consent Order - October 2024
- Application accepted for examination - November 2024
- Pre-examination period - In progress
Morecambe Offshore Windfarm: Generation Assets
- Examination concludes - April 2025
- Expected DCO award - Q4 2025
- Examination expected to begin
- Expected Final Investment Decision
- Expected DCO award - Q1/Q2 2026
- Commercial Operation Date
Environment
Delivering net zero
Climate change is one the biggest challenges the world faces. It is affecting every country and we must all play a role in helping to combat it.
In the UK, the government has committed to ambitious plans that will put the country at the forefront of the fight for a greener future. As part of these plans, we will need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. To achieve this, we will need to change how we heat our homes, power our vehicles and, importantly, how we generate our electricity.
The UK already generates around 13GW of its power from offshore wind, which is more than any other country in the world. It plays an increasingly important role in our energy mix – for a period on 29 Jan 2022, offshore wind was providing 66 per cent of our total energy output. But we need to go a lot further. To achieve our climate goals, we need to quadruple our offshore wind generation – that means having 50GW of generating capacity installed and operating by 2030.
The Morecambe project has the potential to contribute to the Net Zero targets and to play a role in decarbonisation of the UK economy. Our 480 MW project will be operational by 2028/9 – leading the way in decarbonisation of the UK economy.
Consultation process
Morecambe and Morgan are two new offshore wind farms being developed in the Irish Sea by separate joint venture companies, working towards a common goal of helping the UK to achieve its net zero ambitions and, specifically, of reaching offshore wind generation goals. Together the wind farms have the potential to power more than two million households with clean energy.
- Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Limited, a joint venture between Zero-E Offshore Wind S.L.U. (Spain) (a Cobra group company), and Flotation Energy Limited, is developing the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm
- Morgan Offshore Wind Limited, a joint venture between bp and Energie Baden-Wurttemberg AG (EnBW), is developing the Morgan Offshore Wind Project
The two joint venture companies are collaborating to connect the wind farms to the electricity transmission network.
In November and December 2022, we held non-statutory consultation events (both in-person and online) to help communities and other stakeholders understand the proposals for these two wind farms, along with their connection to the electricity network.
In April 2023, Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Limited held its planned statutory consultation on the latest proposals for the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Generation Assets. The consultation, which opened on 19 April 2023 and ran for six weeks through until 4 June 2023, represents the second consultation on the latest design of the Project.
The non-statutory consultation for the Morgan and Morecambe Offshore Wind Farms Transmission Assets also closed on 4 June 2023.
In October 2023, the statutory consultation for the Morgan and Morecambe Offshore Wind Farms: Transmission Assets, took place, making this our third round of consultation for the Project.
The feedback received during our statutory consultation, alongside ongoing engineering and environmental work, will help us to develop our proposals further.
To find out more about the consultations undertaken and the latest project updates, please visit the consultation website at: www.morecambeandmorgan.com.
Planning and consent
In July 2022, the UK Government published the Pathway to 2030 Holistic Network Design documents, which set out the approach to connecting 50GW of offshore wind to the UK electricity network. The output of this process concluded that the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm and the Morgan Offshore Wind Project should work collaboratively in connecting the wind farms to the national grid at Penwortham in Lancashire. The developers were involved in this process and agree with this output.
The Government classifies major energy projects as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). Permission is granted in line with the national policy guidance set out in the Planning Act 2008.
The generation assets for the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm and the generation assets for the Morgan Offshore Wind Project are each considered to be NSIPs in their own right and will be the subject of separate applications for development consent.
An application for development consent will therefore be made for the generation assets of each offshore wind farm, one for Morecambe and one for Morgan. A third application for development consent will be made for both projects’ joint transmission assets.
Applications for development consent are submitted to, and examined by, the Planning Inspectorate and decisions are made by the relevant Secretary of State. In this case the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The application for Morecambe Offshore Windfarm: Generation Assets was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in May 2024. The application has been accepted for examination. The Preliminary Meeting took place in October 2024 and formally started the examination. The Preliminary Meeting is a procedural meeting to outline the process and agenda for the forthcoming months of the examination.
The application for Morgan and Morecambe Offshore Wind Farms: Transmission Assets was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in October 2024. The application has been accepted for examination, meaning it will now progress to the pre-examination stage.
Scoping report
A range of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) will be undertaken to assess the potential impacts to, and as a result of, the construction, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning of the windfarm and associated infrastructure.
Scoping is utilised to determine what should be covered in the environmental information to be submitted to a competent authority for projects which require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to be undertaken.
Morecambe Offshore Windfarm requested a formal Scoping Opinion from the Planning Inspectorate in relation to the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Generation Assets. The Scoping Report for Generation Assets was submitted on 23 June 2022. The Planning Inspectorate returned their Scoping Opinion on the 02 August.
In July 2022, the UK Government published the Pathway to 2030 Holistic Network Design documents, which set out the approach to connecting 50 GW of offshore wind to the UK electricity network (National Grid ESO, 2022). The process concluded that the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm and the Morgan Offshore Wind Project should work collaboratively in connecting the wind farms to the National Grid at Penwortham in Lancashire.
The process and decision were supported by both Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Limited and Morgan Offshore Wind Limited (the projects).
Following receipt of a Direction under Section 35 of the Planning Act 2008 from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; the projects submitted a Scoping Report for the Transmission Assets on the 28 October 2022 to the Planning Inspectorate. This Scoping Report comprises a shared offshore export cable corridors to landfall and shared onshore export cable corridors to onshore substation(s), and onward connection to the National Grid electricity transmission network at Penwortham, Lancashire. The Planning Inspectorate returned their Scoping Opinion on the 08 December 2022.
Surveys
Aerial surveys were initiated in April 2021 to collect offshore bird and marine mammal density data across the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm site. These surveys, undertaken by aircraft flying across the site monthly will continue during 2021 and 2022. Surveys to understand the presence of onshore overwintering birds have begun.
Additional environmental surveys are planned for 2022 both onshore and offshore to inform the project design and EIA processes. These will investigate shipping activity, seabed habitats and ecology, terrestrial ecology, onshore ground conditions, land use and a host of other aspects of the environment in which the project is situated.
Mapping of the seabed via geophysical surveys was completed for the windfarm area in October / November 2021. Geotechnical data was collected during 2022 to test the physical properties of the seabed and inform project design.
In May 2023, further geophysical surveys and shallow geotechnical surveys were undertaken within the proposed development site. The purpose of these surveys is to better understand the condition of the seabed, as we continue to develop our proposals for the offshore windfarm further.
From mid-July to late October 2023, we undertook deep-sea geotechnical surveys at different locations inside the project area, using the survey vessel, Horizon Geodiscovery.
Further geotechnical and geophysical surveys across the Morecambe windfarm site are now underway. This survey activity is due to be completed in August 2024 and is subject to weather conditions (dates may change at short notice).
Onshore ground investigations and environmental surveys continue. The purpose of the surveys is to gather the necessary data and to better understand the condition of the ground at various locations along the proposed onshore route. The results of the surveys will be used to further develop the design of the project.
News
Supply chain
A major infrastructure development like Morecambe Offshore Windfarm brings with it a wealth of opportunity for businesses of all sizes across a wide range of disciplines.
We aim to utilise as many UK based suppliers where reasonably possible during all stages of the development phase. Subject to the relevant consents and a positive Financial Investment Decision, this will ramp up significantly through to the construction phase. There will be further opportunities throughout the long-term operational phase.
