The UK Government has gave development consent for the electrical system required to transmit the power that will be generated by the 900MW Triton Knoll wind farm, located off the east coast of England.
The green light by Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, follows a six-month examination in which locals participated.
The projectis owned by RWE's Innogy unit and Norwegian state-owned utility Statkraft. It was approved by the UK’s secretary of state for energy and climate change, Edward Davey, in July 2013.
The latest development consent order (DCO) includes approval for the electrical system which links the turbines into the national grid onshore.
Work on the transmission system will include laying onshore and offshore export cables, establishing an intermediate electrical compound.
Plans also include the construction of a substation near the grid connection point to the north west of the village of Bicker in Lincolnshire.
The wind farm will have 288 turbines, each with 8MW capacity that can supply electricity to over 800,000 English households.
Triton Knoll Consent Delivery Manager Melissa Read said: “Today’s announcement by Greg Clark is an important milestone in the development of Triton Knoll and a real testament to the high quality of application and information our consents team presented.
"Obtaining consent is the start of the next phase in the project’s life cycle, and we look forward to working with the community and stakeholders as we take the project forward into construction.
The wind farm can now proceed into the next process, which is Contract for Difference auction.
The Crown Estate Energy, Minerals and Infrastructure director Huub den Rooijen said: “Today’s positive announcement for Triton Knoll reflects the hard work and investment from innogy and Staktkraft over the last few years.
“Major projects like Triton Knoll provide an attractive opportunity to build new low carbon power stations at an increasingly competitive cost.”
Image: Permission received for installing the electrical system at Triton Knoll offshore wind farm. Photo: Courtesy of Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm Ltd.