The story so far

Consultation and engagement

Engagement began in 2021, primarily with technical and local authorities, and expanded in 2022 to include landowners and the broader community. Our engagement activities featured expert topic groups, meetings, letters, and a non-statutory consultation period from 09 September to 14 October 2022, that included four public events.

The Statutory Consultation was held between 06 June and 17 July 2023 concentrating on our Preliminary Environmental Information Report. During this time, we organised a series of public events both in-person and online. Feedback led to project changes, which are summarised in our Winter 2023 Newsletter. A comprehensive summary of all consultation feedback and how it has been considered is available as part of the Development Consent Order application.

Stakeholder input was integrated with outcomes from detailed environmental surveys and engineering assessments to achieve the design of the projects as set out in the Project Description Chapter of our Environmental Statement in the DCO application.

Following the DCO submission in June 2024, we engaged in detailed discussions with equipment suppliers and secured a firm grid connection offer from the National Energy System Operator (NESO). This new information allowed us to refine key aspects of the project design.

Such detailed design is unusual at this early stage of offshore wind project development and was made possible through close collaboration with NESO and key equipment suppliers.

Between 15 November 2024 and 16 December 2024, we consulted relevant stakeholders about the proposed design changes. On 10 January 2025, we submitted formal Requests for Change to the Planning Inspectorate, who accepted our refined designs into the examination process on 21 January 2025.

• Onshore: We reduced both the length and width of the two proposed converter stations by about 50% compared with the initial DCO application proposals. This reduction results in lower land use than anticipated, alongside environmental and visual benefits.

Illustration showing the layout of the revised, smaller substation zone accommodating the two onshore converter stations.

• Offshore: We removed several components of the proposed infrastructure, including five out of the original eight offshore platforms within the array areas, and reduced the related inter-platform cables. These changes offer environmental benefits by reducing disturbances to the Dogger Bank sand bank, its benthic wildlife communities, and marine life compared with the initial infrastructure proposals.

Proposed infrastructure for the DBS projects.