Powering forward – White Cross Section 36 and Marine Licence application submitted for offshore consent

(March 2023).

We’ve reached a huge milestone in our White Cross project, having recently submitted the offshore consent to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), incorporating both Section 36 and Marine Licence applications.

Located 52.5km north-west of Hartland Point, off the coast of North Devon in the Celtic Sea, the White Cross project will consist of between six to eight floating wind turbines to deliver up to 100MW of renewable energy. This project has the potential to generate enough green energy to power 135,000 households, over a third of the homes in Devon.

This application is a culmination of a significant amount of work that’s been carried out to fully understand the offshore site and the potential environmental impacts which may arise as a result of the development. Several steps were undertaken which include:

• Commissioning two years’ worth of marine mammal and seabird surveys in 2020
• Securing development rights to the White Cross array area from The Crown Estate (TCE) through their Test and Demonstration Leasing Opportunity in July 2021
• Undertaking a full suite of both desktop and field-based environmental and geophysical data collection
• Consulting with statutory and non-statutory stakeholders on project design and development, including running local public information events
• Producing and submitting to the MMO a full Environmental Statement from the information collected

TCE’s Test and Demonstration Leasing Opportunity aims to support the development and commercialisation of new and innovative floating energy technologies within the Celtic Sea, a new region for offshore wind development. It will also act as a stepping stone in supporting a regional supply chain in the South West whilst developing new jobs and skills.

White Cross could play an instrumental role in kick-starting the sector, delivering economic and wider societal benefits for both the South West and the UK. It aims to support the UK in remaining a world leader in offshore wind development, whilst also delivering on the UK Government’s targets for 5GW of energy from floating offshore wind by 2035 and Net Zero by 2050; alongside wider energy security targets.

We are looking forward to working with the MMO and other stakeholders throughout the determination period to provide any further information required and work towards the consent being granted for development. Once validated, we will share further information on how to view and comment on the application.

If you’d like to talk to me about the project, or have questions you’d like to pose the team, please drop me an email in the first instance at: [email protected]