The Planning Inspectorate has approved the examination of the North Falls Offshore Wind Farm's (North Falls) Development Consent Order (DCO), marking a key milestone for the 50/50 joint venture between Scotland's SSE Renewables and Germany's RWE Offshore Wind (RWE).

The submission of the project's DCO application was made in July 2024. The approval has been made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

North Falls now moves into the pre-examination phase of the consenting process for major infrastructure projects. The next phase, examination, is expected to begin in early 2025.

Andy Paine, Project Director, said: "North Falls is set to play a key role in the UK's net zero ambitions, as well as unlocking opportunities to create jobs and boost the supply chain in the local area. We're pleased to have reached this major milestone and look forward to the examination phase beginning in early 2025.

"We would like to thank those who have engaged and shared feedback with the project. Engagement with local communities, stakeholders and businesses over the last six years, alongside close coordination with the proposed Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm, has informed project development and the application we submitted to the Planning Inspectorate."

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North Falls is a proposed extension to the southern array of the existing 504 megawatt (MW) Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm, a 50/50 joint venture between SSE and RWE, with SSE operating the wind farm of behalf of the joint venture partners.

North Falls' site will comprise one offshore array area totalling 90 square kilometres (km2) and will have a generating capacity of up to 1 gigawatt (GW). The site previously comprised two offshore array areas totalling approximately 150km2, but after North Falls' 2023 statutory consultation the decision was made to remove the whole of the northern offshore array area and reduce the size of the remaining southern array.

If consented and approved for delivery, North Falls would support the UK government's target of up to 50GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030 and make a substantial contribution to the achievement of UK decarbonisation targets and to global commitments to mitigating climate change.

All of North Falls' application documents are available to view on the project page of the Planning Inspectorate's website. Visit national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/ and search 'North Falls Offshore Wind Farm'. More information can also be found on North Falls' website: www.northfallsoffshore.com.

People will shortly be able become an Interested Party by making a Relevant Representation, which is a summary of a person's views on an application, made in writing. Details of how to take part in this process will be available via the project page of the Planning Inspectorate's website in the coming weeks. From here, people can also register for project updates from the Planning Inspectorate.

The examination is expected to take up to six months, followed by a three-month period for the Examining Authority to make recommendations to the Secretary of State about whether permission for development should be given. A final decision on consent, taken over a further three-month period, will sit with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.