The Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm Order 2021

1.—(1) In this licence— E+W

“the 2004 Act” means the Energy Act 2004;

“the 2008 Act” means the Planning Act 2008;

“the 2009 Act” means the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009;

“the 2011 Regulations” means the Marine Licensing (Licence Application Appeals) Regulations 2011(1);

“the 2017 Regulations” means the Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017(2);

“authorised deposits” means the substances and articles specified in paragraph 5 of Part 2 of this licence;

“authorised scheme” means Work Nos. 2, 3A, 4A, and 4B described in Part 3 of this licence or any part of that work;

“cable protection” means measures for offshore cable crossings and where cable burial is not possible due to ground conditions or approaching offshore structures, to protect cables and fibre optic cables and prevent loss of seabed sediment by use of grout bags, protective aprons, mattresses, flow energy dissipation (frond) devices or rock and gravel dumping;

“commence” means the first carrying out of any part of the licensed activities save for pre-construction surveys and monitoring and “commenced” and “commencement” must be construed accordingly;

“condition” means a condition in Part 4 of this licence;

“Defence Infrastructure Organisation Safeguarding” means Ministry of Defence Safeguarding, Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Kingston Road, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B75 7RL and any successor body to its functions;

“Development Principles” means the document certified as the Development Principles by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order;

“draft marine mammal mitigation protocol” means the document certified as the draft marine mammal mitigation protocol by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Order;

“enforcement officer” means a person authorised to carry out enforcement duties under Chapter 3 of Part 4 (marine licensing) of the 2009 Act;

“environmental statement” means the document certified as the environmental statement by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Order;

“gravity base” means a structure principally of steel, concrete, or steel and concrete which rests on the seabed either due to its own weight with or without added ballast or additional skirts and associated materials and equipment including scour protection, J-tubes, transition piece, corrosion protection systems, fenders and maintenance equipment, boat access systems, access ladders and access and rest platform(s) and equipment;

“HAT” means highest astronomical tide;

“in principle Norfolk Boreas Southern North Sea Special Area of Conservation Site Integrity Plan” means the document certified as the in principle Norfolk Boreas Southern North Sea Special Area of Conservation Site Integrity Plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Order;

“jacket foundation” means a steel jacket/ lattice-type structure constructed of steel which is fixed to the seabed at three or more points with steel pin piles or steel suction caissons and associated materials and equipment including scour protection, J-tubes, transition piece, corrosion protection systems, fenders and maintenance equipment, boat access systems, access ladders and access and rest platform(s) and equipment;

“Kingfisher Fortnightly Bulletin” means the bulletin published by the Humber Seafood Institute or such other alternative publication approved in writing by the MMO for the purposes of this licence;

“licence 1 (transmission)” means the licence set out in Schedule 11 (deemed licence under the 2009 Act – transmission assets (licence 1 – phase 1));

“licensed activities” means the activities specified in Part 3 of this licence;

“maintain” includes inspect, upkeep, repair, adjust, and alter and further includes remove, reconstruct and replace (but only in relation to any of the ancillary works in Part 2 of Schedule 1 (ancillary works), any cable and any component part of any wind turbine generator, offshore electrical platform, offshore service platform or meteorological mast described in Part 1 of Schedule 1 (authorised development) not including the alteration, removal or replacement of foundations), to the extent assessed in the environmental statement; and “maintenance” is construed accordingly;

“Marine Management Organisation” or “MMO” means the body created under the 2009 Act which is responsible for the monitoring and enforcement of this licence;

“MCA” means the Maritime and Coastguard Agency;

“mean high water springs” or “MHWS” means the highest level which spring tides reach on average over a period of time;

“meteorological mast” means a mast housing equipment to measure wind speed and other wind characteristics, including a topside housing electrical, communication and associated equipment and marking and lighting;

“Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm” means the offshore wind farm authorised pursuant to the Order

“Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm” means the offshore wind farm for which Norfolk Vanguard Limited has sought a development consent order pursuant to an application submitted to the Secretary of State on 26th June 2018;

“notice to mariners” means a notice issued by the undertaker to mariners to inform them of issues that affect the safety of navigation;

“offshore cables” means any cables offshore;

“offshore electrical platform” means a platform attached to the seabed by means of a foundation, with one or more decks, whether open or fully clad, accommodating electrical power transformers, switchgear, instrumentation, protection and control systems and other associated equipment and facilities to enable the transmission of electronic communications and for electricity to be collected at, and exported from, the platform;

“offshore in principle monitoring plan” means the document certified as the offshore in principle monitoring plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Order;

“offshore Order limits” means the limits shown on the works plan within which the authorised scheme may be carried out, whose grid coordinates are set out in Part 2 of this licence;

“the Order” means the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm Order 2021;

“outline fisheries liaison and co-existence plan” means the document certified as the outline fisheries liaison and co-existence plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Order;

“outline offshore operations and maintenance plan” means the document certified as the outline offshore operations and maintenance plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order;

“outline Norfolk Boreas Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton Special Area of Conservation Cable Specification, Installation and Monitoring Plan” means the document certified as the outline Norfolk Boreas Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton Special Area of Conservation Cable Specification, Installation and Monitoring Plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Order;

“outline written scheme of investigation (offshore)” means the document certified as the outline written scheme of investigation (offshore) by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Order;

“pin piles” means steel cylindrical piles driven and/or drilled into the seabed to secure steel jacket foundations;

“relevant site” means a European offshore marine site or a European site as defined in the 2017 Regulations;

“scenario 1” means the scenario in which the Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm proceeds to construction and carries out enabling works, including the laying of onshore cable ducts, to benefit the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm;

“scenario 2” means the scenario in which the Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm does not proceed to construction and Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm is built out as an independent project including the laying of onshore cable ducts;

“scour protection” means measures to prevent loss of seabed sediment around any marine structure placed in or on the seabed by use of protective aprons, mattresses with or without frond devices, or rock and gravel placement.

“single offshore phase” means carrying out all offshore works as a single construction operation;

“statutory historic body” means Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England (Historic England) or its successor in function;

“statutory nature conservation body” means an organisation charged by government with advising on nature conservation matters;

“suction caisson” means a large diameter steel cylindrical shell which penetrates the seabed assisted by a hydrostatic pressure differential for fixity of foundations;

“Trinity House” means the Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond;

“two offshore phases” means carrying out the offshore works as two separate construction operations;

“UK Hydrographic Office” means the UK Hydrographic Office of Admiralty Way, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 2DN;

“undertaker” means Norfolk Boreas Limited (Company No. 03722058) whose registered office is at 5th Floor, 70 St Mary Axe, London EC3A 8BE;

“vessel” means every description of vessel, however propelled or moved, and includes a non-displacement craft, a personal watercraft, a seaplane on the surface of the water, a hydrofoil vessel, a hovercraft or any other amphibious vehicle and any other thing constructed or adapted for movement through, in, on or over water and which is at the time in, on or over water;

“Work No. 3B” means up to three project interconnector cables to connect Work No. 2 with the Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm licensed under Schedule 13 of this Order;

“Work No. 4C” means the onshore transmission works at the landfall consisting of up to two transition jointing pits and up to four cables to be laid in ducts underground and associated fibre optic cables laid within cable ducts from MHWS at Happisburgh South, North Norfolk; and

“works plan” means the plan certified as the works plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order.

(2) A reference to any statute, order, regulation or similar instrument is construed as a reference to a statute, order, regulation or instrument as amended by any subsequent statute, order, regulation or instrument or as contained in any subsequent re-enactment.

(3) Unless otherwise indicated—

(a) all times are taken to be Greenwich Mean Time (GMT); and

(b) all co-ordinates are taken to be latitude and longitude degrees and minutes to two decimal places.

(4) Except where otherwise notified in writing by the relevant organisation, the primary points of contact with the organisations listed below and the addresses for returns and correspondence are—

(a) Marine Management Organisation

Marine Licensing

Lancaster House

Hampshire Court

Newcastle Business Park

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE4 7YH

Tel: [phone];

(b) Marine Management Organisation (local office)

Lowestoft Office

Pakefield Road

Lowestoft

Suffolk

NR33 0HT

Tel: [phone];

(c) Trinity House

Tower Hill

London

EC3N 4DH

Tel: [phone];

(d) The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office

Admiralty Way

Taunton

Somerset

TA1 2DN

Tel: [phone];

(e) Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Navigation Safety Branch

Bay 2/20, Spring Place

105 Commercial Road

Southampton

SO15 1EG

Tel: [phone];

(f) Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science

Pakefield Road

Lowestoft

Suffolk

NR33 0HT

Tel: [phone];

(g) Natural England

Area 1C, Nobel House

17 Smith Square

London

SW1P 2AL

Tel: [phone];

(h) Historic England

Cannon Bridge House

25 Dowgate Hill

London

EC4R 2YA

Tel: [phone]

Commencement Information

I1 Sch. 12 Pt. 1 para. 1 in force at 1.1.2022, see art. 1

(1)

S.I. 2011/934.

(2)

S.I. 2017/1013.