Consultation

** Our formal consultation is now closed **

Engaging and sharing information with local people is an important part of developing a wind farm. As part of the IPC process for Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm, our formal consultation on the offshore elements of the project took place from:

Wednesday 1^st June 2011 until 5pm on Tuesday 12^th July 2011.

This was a key stage in the development of the project where members of the public could formally register their comments. 

What did we consult on?

In June and July 2011 we consulted on the offshore components of the project (package 1) comprising:

• The construction of up to 333 wind turbines, the number being dependent on the generating potential of each turbine.
• The construction of up to five offshore monitoring masts to collect information such as wind speeds and wind direction.
• The construction of up to eight offshore electricity substations, and cables buried in the sea bed to link the wind turbines and the offshore substations.

When will we be consulting on the electrical system?

An electrical connection (package 2), including the offshore export cable route, onshore cable and onshore substation location, will be required for the project. National Grid are currently undertaking a new review of options for the onshore substation application. The outcome of this work is anticipated to be completed in late autumn 2011.

The electrical system will therefore be the subject of separate consultation following the completion of National Grid's new review. It is expected that this consultation will occur in 2012.

Further information on the rationale behind separating Triton Knoll's electrical system from the offshore site boundary application can be found on the electrical system page.

Providing feedback on the proposals

During this formal consultation period, members of the public were invited to formally register and give us feedback on the project.  All responses were made in writing.

Public Exhibitions:
We held a series of public exhibitions during the consultation period. The events offered people the opportunity to meet the Triton Knoll project team and see details about the offshore wind farm, including the proposed site location, the construction process and progress to date on the environmental assessment. 
 
Photomontages were presented to provide an indication as to what the scheme may look like once constructed, information about the local economic benefits the wind farm could bring to the area was shown.
 
The public exhibitions were held at the following locations:

Consultation documents

We put together a set of documents containing information about the project called the ‘Preliminary Environmental Information’ (PEI). The PEI is a set of documents including plans and maps which shows the nature and location of the proposed offshore wind farm. It also includes information and results from the environmental studies we have been carrying out. Links to the PEI are provided to the right of this page. During the consultation copies were also available for viewing at a number of libraries and community access points.  Details of these locations are provided in our latest newsletter.

A much shorter, non-technical summary of the PEI is also available.

How are we consulting?

In May 2011, we published a Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC) which gives details on how the consultation would be carried out and how you could participate. The Statement is a formal part of the application process and has been discussed with coastal local authorities and the Marine Management Organisation.

The SoCC and a more detailed document explaining how our consultation process was developed is available to download to the right of this page. This SoCC supersedes an earlier version of the document that was published in July 2010.

Please note that the SoCC, Proposals for Community Consultation and Section 48 Public Notice are available in large print if required and can be requested by contacting us using the channels listed in the Contact Us page.