Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Offshore Extension Projects secure ‘Pathfinder’ status

Today, the UK Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change Minister, Greg Hands, has confirmed that Equinor’s Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm Extension Projects (SEP and DEP) have been selected to progress as a ‘Pathfinder’ under the Offshore Transmission Network Review (OTNR).

The OTNR process is designed to develop an increasingly coordinated offshore transmission network to minimise the impacts to the community and the environment, reduce costs, and support the acceleration of offshore wind deployment, in line with the British Energy Security Strategy ambitions for 50 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

‘Pathfinder’ projects are identified as projects that have the potential to deliver benefits on better coordinated offshore transmission systems in the near-term and provide important learnings for the other parts of the OTNR process.

Having been identified as a ‘Pathfinder’ project, SEP and DEP will continue to engage with the Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy (BEIS) and its other OTNR partners to address regulatory and policy challenges related to delivering this combined approach, while progressing with project development.

Kari Hege Mørk, Equinor’s Project Director for SEP and DEP said: “Equinor has prioritised minimising impacts to the community and environment in Norfolk throughout the project development of SEP and DEP, so we are proud that our combined projects are confirmed as a ‘Pathfinder’ under the OTNR process. We welcome the continued collaboration with the Minister, BEIS and other OTNR partners as we continue to mature SEP and DEP, with the ultimate goal of supporting the development of an offshore transmission network that is fit for 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030.”

Energy Minister Greg Hands said: “The concept of ‘Pathfinder’ projects was created for such projects that are leading the way in utilising the enabling regulatory and policy changes being developed by project partners to meet the OTNR objectives. Having reviewed Equinor’s SEP and DEP proposal, I am encouraged by the degree of coordination being pursued and look forward to applying the learnings from delivering this project to the wider OTNR.”

SEP and DEP will double the capacity of the existing Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farms off the Norfolk coast, providing renewable energy to power an additional 785,000 UK homes and making an important contribution to the UK’s decarbonisation and energy security goals.

Equinor has been part of the Norfolk community for over a decade through its operated Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms, which produce enough renewable electricity to power around 710,000 UK homes, and are operated from the company’s Great Yarmouth Operations and Maintenance hub.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Alice Baxter
UK Media Relations Manager, Equinor
Abax@equinor.com
+44 7557973941