ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall have agreed to independently take forward offshore wind farm projects within the East Anglia Zone.

This follows on from industry-wide changes agreed with The Crown Estate, which will see 'zone development agreements' replaced with project specific agreements.

ScottishPower will focus on developing projects in the southern area of the zone, with Vattenfall developing projects in the northern section of the zone.

Overall capacity remains at up to 7.2 gigawatts (GW) of potential, with each developer working on proposals for approximately half of the overall capacity.

In the southern area, ScottishPower is developing the 714 MW East Anglia ONE project, which has planning consent and a Contract for Difference (CfD) in place.

East Anglia THREE is also in development, with a capacity of up to 1,200 MW and a planning submission expected to be made by the end of the year. Negotiations are continuing with The Crown Estate on additional projects within the southern area.


Vattenfall intends to take forward the East Anglia FOUR project in the northern area, and is in discussions with The Crown Estate to define further projects in this section of the zone.

Both companies will continue to work together on a range of common factors that cross over between the development areas, such as sharing offshore wind measuring equipment, zone wide survey data and other key interfaces.

Johnathan Cole, Managing Director for Offshore Wind at ScottishPower, said: "We have always believed that the East Anglia Zone has tremendous potential, with some of the best conditions anywhere in the world for developing offshore wind.

"Now we need to move our focus from understanding the wider zone characteristics, which we have done successfully in partnership with Vattenfall, to ensuring that each individual project gets the specific attention that it requires."

Gunnar Groebler, President of BA Wind at Vattenfall, said: "With the agreed development changes in place, we now have two experienced international energy companies focussing their resources on specific projects.

"This is the most effective and efficient way of taking these major projects forward. This progression in development means that the ability to fully realise the potential of the East Anglia zone has increased."

Head of Offshore Wind at The Crown Estate, Huub den Rooijen, added: "We're working with ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall as they progress to project-specific agreements that will mark an important milestone in helping unlock the potential of the East Anglia Zone to deliver large scale low carbon energy."

(LM)