Our Proposal

The proposed project is an up to 504 megawatt (MW) extension to the Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm (GGOWF) which is currently being constructed. It is located approximately 27 kilometres (km) off the Suffolk coast at its nearest point.

Offshore

You can download a map of the proposed offshore site in relation to the shore.

• Up to 140 wind turbines arranged into up to 3 key areas, depending on the individual capacity of each turbine, with a maximum blade tip height up to 195 metres (m), the majority of turbines being located on the seaward side of the existing GGOWF.
• Up to four offshore platforms for electricity substations, collector stations and/or accommodation.
• Up to three offshore meteorological masts (for measuring wind speeds and directions), with a maximum tip height up to 130m.
• Buried subsea intra and inter-array cables linking the turbines to the offshore electricity platforms.
• Up to three buried subsea export cables which will follow a generally north westerly route and will link the offshore substations to the onshore underground joint bays (with landfall on the Suffolk coast, just south of Sizewell).

Onshore

The Galloper Wind Farm (GWF) application will also include a number of onshore elements to allow the energy produced by the project to feed into the national electricity grid. Further details regarding the substation are available in the application documents. The onshore elements of the application include: 

• Joint bays located south of Sizewell Gap, where onshore and offshore cables are connected to each other.
• A cable corridor which will accommodate the onshore cables from the joint bays to the GWF substation compound.  The cables will run in a generally westerly direction, south of Sizewell Gap and then generally northerly and/or westerly direction to the electrical substation.
• The electricity substation (to be located in a generally westerly direction from Sizewell and adjacent to the recently installed GGOWF substation) comprising up to two compounds occupying an area of 3.1 hectares in total (fenced area):
  • The GWF compound containing buildings and electrical infrastructure up to a maximum of 14m in height (although 75% of the footprint of the compound is restricted to a maximum height of 8m).
  • The transmission compound next to the GWF compound with similar equipment which will primarily receive electricity from the adjacent GWF compound and transform the voltage generated by the offshore wind farm to one suitable for connection to the national electricity grid.
• A cable corridor to accommodate 132 kilovolt (kV) underground cables connecting the transmission compound and the existing cables between National Grid's Sizewell and Leiston A substations.
• A cable corridor to accommodate 400kV underground cables between the transmission  compound and two sealing end compounds.
• Up to two sealing end compounds each up to approximately 0.2 hectares in size, which connect the 400kV cables to overhead wires for onward connection to two existing adjacent transmission towers (pylons), both being north of Sizewell Gap and east/southeast of the GGOWF substation.  Equipment in the sealing end compounds will be up to a maximum of 13m in height.
• New wires connecting upwards from the sealing end compounds to extended outer arms of the two existing adjacent transmission towers.
• Temporary compound(s) to be used during onshore construction works.
• Tree removal/planting and landscaping around the substation and sealing end compounds.
• Construction of temporary and permanent access(es) to the GWF compound, transmission compound and sealing end compounds (not in the public highway).
• Landscaping in the vicinity of the proposals.
• Temporary access along Sizewell Beach from the existing beach car park area.