The process

A coordinated approach

Both the Morgan Offshore Wind Project and the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm projects were scoped into the Pathway to 2030 workstream of the UK Government Offshore Transmission Network Review.

As part of this review, National Grid assessed options to improve the coordination of offshore wind farm connections and associated transmission networks. In July 2022, the UK Government published the Pathway to 2030 Holistic Network Design Report which set out the approach to connecting 50GW of offshore wind to the UK national grid.

The output of this process concluded that Morgan Offshore Wind Project and the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm should work collaboratively in connecting the wind farms to the National Grid at Penwortham in Lancashire. The developers were involved in this process and agree with this output.

Therefore, both projects intend to submit a single application for development consent for the:

• Morgan and Morecambe Offshore Wind Farms: Transmission Assets, alongside their separate applications for
• Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Generation Assets and
• Morgan Offshore Wind Project Generation Assets.

The collaboration between the projects will provide a consistent approach to environmental assessments and mitigation processes. This will also give a robust consideration of cumulative impacts, as well as providing a more streamlined process for all stakeholders.