Vattenfall has signed an agreement with RWE to divest the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone. The Norfolk Zone consists of three fully consented wind farms – Norfolk Boreas, Norfolk Vanguard West and Norfolk Vanguard East – and is located off the east coast of England. It is one of the largest offshore wind developments in the world, with a total capacity of 4.2 GW, equal to the electricity consumption of 4 million British households.

The three projects, each with a planned capacity of 1.4 gigawatts (GW), are located 50 to 80 kilometres off the coast of Norfolk in East Anglia. This area is one of the world’s largest and most attractive areas for offshore wind. After 13 years of development, the three development projects have already secured seabed rights, grid connections, Development Consent Orders and all other key permits. The Norfolk Vanguard West and Norfolk Vanguard East projects are most advanced, having secured the procurement of most key components.

The next milestone in the development of these two projects is to secure a Contract for Difference (CfD) in one of the upcoming auction rounds. RWE will resume the development of the Norfolk Boreas project, which was previously halted. All three Norfolk projects are expected to be commissioned in this decade.

Image: RWE

In July, Vattenfall stopped work on the Norfolk Boreas site saying the cost of building a wind farm had soared by about 40%. The two other sites were also to be reviewed.

Last year, the company won the right to supply power to the grid from Boreas for £37.35 per MWh – a record low for offshore wind. Since then, the price paid to generate electricity by offshore wind farms has been raised by more than 50%, as the government tries to entice energy firms to invest.

The UK is a world leader in offshore wind and is home to the world’s five largest farms, supporting tens of thousands of jobs. They provided 13.8% of the UK’s electricity generation last year, according to government statistics.

Closing of the transaction is subject to approval by The Crown Estate and regulatory approvals, and is expected for the first quarter of 2024.

This report was compiled from reporting by the BBC, Vattenfall and RWE.