16 July 2020

At last, after ten years of campaigning (and re-energised efforts these past two-three years), the Energy Minister, the Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, publicly announced yesterday the launch of the Review into improving offshore wind connectivity to minimise the need for multiple environmentally damaging substations 

This is great news for East Anglia – and formalises the commitment the Minister made to myself, and my parliamentary colleagues, last month.

The public announcement followed a roundtable yesterday that the Energy Minister held with myself, my fellow MPs, BEIS officials, National Grid, OFGEM and developers in the sector to discuss the format and timescales of the Review in greater depth.

Despite the disappointing news regarding Norfolk Vanguard at the beginning of this month, yesterday’s roundtable and public announcement of the Review are major boosts for our region.

Although there is much work to be done, this news represents a significant step towards achieving what so many of us have been calling for – a proper strategic Plan for the delivery of offshore wind infrastructure in the East: one that removes the unnecessary need to connect these much needed wind farms to the National Grid to Wembley-size substations deep inland via enormous cable corridors.

To hear the BBC Norfolk Breakfast clip on the announcement, please click here,

To hear more about my work in this area, please visit my website here.