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How will you prevent negative impacts on local wildlife / birds?

The Project is committed to delivering a positive legacy for local wildlife. It is for this reason that the avoidance of sensitive environmental receptors has been central to the design of the potential cable routes and placement of the respective Onshore Substations. An Environmental Assessment of onshore ecology, including local wildlife and birds, will be undertaken. This includes surveying the area to identify the presence and numbers of species. The Environmental Impact Assessment and supporting Development Consent documents submitted as part of the application will include mitigation measures where required to reduce any potential impacts to non-significant levels. These will be determined based on the species present and the specific requirements for each location. Further to the ES, the Project has also committed to provide biodiversity net gain, meaning that the Project will leave ecological habitats in a better state than before the Project.

Why Lincolnshire?

The outline offshore cable route and the corresponding onshore grid connection location for ODOW have been determined by National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO) as part of a Holistic Network Design (HND) for all new offshore wind connections. The HND is a new process, introduced as part of the Government’s Offshore Transmission Network Review (OTNR), which has balanced environmental, social and economic costs to determine the optimal connection points for new offshore wind farms. Until such a time that a preferred location is determined by NGESO, ODOW are appraising the two options recommended by NGESO in their July 2022 HND report.

How large are the turbines? Will I be able to see them from shore?

The highest point of the offshore wind turbine (the blade tip as it rotates) could be up to 403m above the sea (measured to Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT)).

As all the wind turbines will be more than 54km offshore, only on the clearest days would any of the wind turbines be visible from the shore, and only the upper parts of the wind turbines. Based on the location of the Project, from most locations along the coast the Project will be hidden behind other existing wind farms.

Will new overhead lines be built by the project?

No new overhead lines will be built as part of the project; all power generated by the project will be transmitted by underground (or submarine) cables to the National Grid substation. Any new overhead lines that may be required as part of wider reinforcements of the transmission system will be responsibility of National Grid. Any such works will have been identified as part of the annual GB wide Network Options Appraisal (NOA) that National Grid undertake. This process takes a holistic view of all future projects to determine the most efficient reinforcements for the entire network

Where will the project connect into the National Grid?

The Offshore Transmission Network Review (OTNR) is a review launched by the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in September 2021 which looked into the way that the offshore transmission network is designed and delivered to achieve the national goal for net zero emissions by 2050. The draft recommendations consider a number of different connection options will be taken forward for further analysis taking into account the most appropriate balance between environmental, social and consumer costs. Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind is therefore progressing with developing cable route and substation site options for Lincs Node and Weston Marsh until the connection location is confirmed by National Grid in early 2023.

Will this reduce my energy bill?

Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind is an electricity generator and not a retailer or provider. The electricity generated by ODOW will be transmitted directly into the National Grid 400kv network.

Following years of development and improvement, offshore wind is now one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation in the UK. ODOW expects to sell its power through the UK Government’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, a competitive arrangement that fixes the price ODOW will receive for its power. A competitive auction keeps prices low for consumers, whilst a guaranteed price provides predictability for customers and helps reduce the cost of financing for ODOW, keeping downward pressure on prices. The latest CfD auction, held in July 2022, secured the largest ever amount of home-grown, cheap renewable energy for British consumers at record low prices. The cost of electricity from offshore wind projects in this auction was just £37.35 per megawatt hour (MWh) – the lowest cost of all renewable technologies, and significantly cheaper than the prevailing cost of wholesale electricity at that time, which was trading at over £150/MWh for much of 2022 (Source RenewableUK).