This is the company press release – good news : Forewind: Recent planning approval for offshore wind energy at Dogger Bank takes the total of consented projects in the North Sea zone to 4.8 gigawatts (GW), almost equal to all the offshore wind capacity now in operation in the UK.

The consented development, Dogger Bank Teesside A&B is part of the Dogger Bank Zone, the largest of the Round 3 zones and the farthest from shore, but also one of the shallowest, with high wind speeds and seabed conditions ideally suited to offshore wind development.

The consent is offshore wind consortium Forewind’s second approval following that of Dogger Bank Creyke Beck in February. Both consented developments have a proposed installed capacity of 2.4GW making them the equal largest renewable energy applications ever to be approved in the UK, and together the world’s biggest planned offshore wind scheme. The Rt Hon Amber Rudd MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, approved the application for Dogger Bank Teesside A&B, submitted to the Planning Inspectorate by Forewind in March 2014. To read more go to:

http://www.forewind.co.uk/news/126/34/Dogger-Bank-wind-consents-total-4-8GW.html

But will it all get built? Dogger Bank: Plans for 2.4GW of offshore wind capacity scrapped

http://www.edie.net/news/6/Dogger-Bank–Plans-for-2-4GW-of-offshore-wind-capacity-scrapped/

7 August 2015, source Edie ‘The giant Dogger Bank offshore wind project – scheduled to consist of six individual wind farms – will not be fully built, it has been confirmed today (7 August). The project developer Forewind announced that plans for the final two parts of the project have been scrapped. Forewind said it was shelving the 2.4GW Dogger Bank Teesside C and D plans in order to focus on the first four projects. The rights to develop that area of seabed, along with the remainder of the Dogger Bank Zone, have been returned to The Crown Estate. The announcement comes just days after the company received planning permission for Dogger Bank Teesside A and B, which will feature 400 wind turbines off the North East coast of England.

At what environmental cost? – Joan Edward’s blog ‘ …………. The UK is leading the way in offshore wind but, as a result, we have little understanding and experience of the impacts of marine renewables on this scale.  This current round of wind farm development (round 3) will see the building of significantly larger sites, all before the impacts of previous, smaller projects are fully understood. I am particularly concerned about the impact of construction noise on our smallest cetacean: the harbour porpoise.  Persistent densities of harbour porpoise are higher on Dogger Bank than most other areas across the North Sea, indicating that this site is important for the North Sea population.  Pile-driving during the construction of wind farms is known to cause disturbance and hearing injury to cetaceans – impeding their ability to feed, communicate and ultimately survive.  We are disappointed that the Secretary of State did not ask the developer to use piling which creates the least amount of noise, therefore decreasing the impact on these sensitive animals.  A small ask which this demonstrably environmentally-aware developer could have perhaps accepted, if instructed to.’ To read more go to:

http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/blog/joan/2015/08/07/world%E2%80%99s-largest-offshore-wind-farm-gets-planning-permission