The consortium behind London Array has announced it will not proceed with the development of Phase 2 of the offshore wind farm.
The decision follows a review by the consortium members of their respective portfolios, the technical challenges and the environmental uncertainties surrounding the site, which require a wait of at least three years until Phase 2’s potential impact on birds could be completely assessed. London Array has formally requested The Crown Estate to terminate the agreement for lease for the Phase 2 area and has cancelled the remaining grid capacity it had reserved at the National Grid substation at Cleve Hill, Graveney, Kent. The original consent for London Array was for a wind farm of up to 1000MW, with 630MW in Phase 1 which is completed. Phase 2 had the potential to provide capacity for a further 370MW although known constraints on site resulted in plans for just 240MW being drawn up with an expectation that the final capacity would be closer to 200MW. The project consortium has the following shareholdings: DONG Energy owns 50%, E.ON has 30% and Masdar has 20%.
