Energy Act 2004: Requirement to prepare decommissioning programmes for offshore installations under Section 105.
Hornsea Three Offshore Wind Farm, is a consented offshore wind farm located approximately 120km off the coast of Norfolk (the “Project”) in the Southern North Sea. The Project is being progressed by Orsted Hornsea Project Three (UK) Ltd (“Hornsea Three”). The Project is scheduled to commence offshore construction works in the first quarter of 2025.
The purpose of the Decommissioning Programme is to provide preliminary information on the methods and approaches on how the offshore components will be decommissioned at the end of the operational lifetime of the Project.
Further to the granting of the Development Consent Order (DCO), a notice under the Energy Act Section 105(2) for the Project was issued by the Secretary of State on 9th May 2024 (the “Section 105 Notice”), which requires Hornsea Three to submit a draft Decommissioning Programme by 19th July 2024.
The Section 105 Notice requires Hornsea Three to carry out consultation before submitting the draft Decommissioning Programme. This includes carrying out consultation with prescribed bodies and making the proposals publicly available for at least 30 days.
In accordance with the Section 105 Notice, the draft Decommissioning Programme will be made publicly available for 30 days from 31st May 2024 on the Project website (https://hornseaproject3.co.uk/decommissioning-programme).
A free digital or paper copy of the draft Decommissioning Programme can also be obtained from Hornsea Three using the following contact details: HornseaProjectThree@orsted.com.
Please send any comments about the proposals set out in the draft Decommissioning Programme by email to Hornsea Three at HornseaProjectThree@orsted.com, or in writing to Consents, Hornsea Project Three, 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG. Please include the subject line ‘Hornsea Three Decommissioning Programme Consultation’. The deadline for receipt of comments is 11:59pm on 1st July 2024.
The final Decommissioning Programme will provide a summary table of the comments and actions taken following receipt and consideration of the consultation responses. Please note that any responses received by Hornsea Three will be handled in compliance with applicable data protection regulation.
Download the Decommissioning Programme here