The company revealed early plans for the offshore scheme. It has sent over 20,000 newsletters, inviting people in the North Norfolk region to seven public information days across Norfolk later this month.
The meetings will discuss the plans and scope of assessment.
An initial agreement has been reached by Vattenfall and the National Grid to bring power from the 1.8GW Norfolk Vangaurd wind farm to the nearest point which is Bacton and Eccles-on-Sea.
The underground cable will connect to the National Grid’s substation at Necton.
Vattenfall says that it has identified several routes for the cable installation. Seeking public opinion will help in identifying the best possible route for the cable along with the potential locations to setup infrastructure such as cable relay station and protection substation.
The outcome of the assessment will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination. The Secretary of State for Energy will take a decision whether to go ahead with it or to scrap it.
Vattenfall Norfolk Vanguard proposal senior project manager Ruari Lean said: “We are at the early stages of developing Norfolk Vanguard.
“There will be lots of opportunity for local people to shape how the offshore wind farm, including the onshore infrastructure, will look.
“We hope though that people will agree with us that undergrounding the 50km onshore cable route is the right decision as it minimises the wind farm’s impact. We want to add value in Norfolk and for us knowing the best way to do that – whether its good design decisions or investment opportunities – contributes to the best outcome for Norfolk.”
The Swedish energy company had started the development of Norfolk Vangaurd offshore wind farm in March this year. The wind farm will be located more than 47km from the coast.
Electricity produced at the offshore wind farm can power to meet the demands of 4% of UK households.
According to Vattenfall, the scale of the project places it as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under the planning Act of 2008.
Image: Vattenfall to lay transmission cables for the Norfolk Vangaurd offshore wind farm after seeking public opinion. Photo: Courtesy of xedos4/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
