Electricity transmission licence exemption: East Anglia One Limited
A proposal to provide a time-limited exemption from electricity transmission licensing requirements.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
Outcome
The Secretary of State has decided that it is appropriate to provide EAOL with an exemption that will expire on 13 April 2023. This exemption is intended to allow sufficient time for issues to be rectified and for the parties to conclude commercial negotiations, including allowing for some additional time in case of incremental delays, and accounting for the delays already experienced due to the impacts of COVID-19.
The Electricity (Individual Exemption from the Requirement for a Transmission Licence) (England) (East Anglia One) Order 2022 is now available on legislation.gov.uk, along with the Explanatory Memorandum.
Summary of responses
We received 3 representations in response to this consultation from stakeholders directly affected by the proposed exemption, including:
- the offshore wind farm generator
- investors in the windfarm
The representations expressed strong support for the proposed exemption expiring in April 2023. In expressing support for an exemption, all respondents agreed that this is consistent with contributing to a diverse and secure supply of electricity. In addition, all respondents felt that the longer duration option would be prudent to allow for the completion of transfer of the transmission assets, reflecting ongoing uncertainties as to the impact of COVID-19 on the transfer process. East Anglia One Limited (EAOL) explicitly agreed with our assessment that they are incentivised to work towards an earlier transfer of the transmission assets.
We received a representation from the Scottish Government. Their response specifically noted the risks to consumers associated a shut-down scenario, which was said to be particularly pertinent in the current climate.
We also received responses from Citizens Advice and Consumer Scotland. Citizens Advice supported a proposed exemption that would expire in April 2023 based on the balance of risk between a continued licence exemption and the risk to security of supply and increased carbon emissions over winter. Consumer Scotland had no comments on the proposed exemption.
Original consultation
We are seeking views on a proposed time-limited exemption from the requirement to hold a transmission licence for:
- East Anglia One Limited, in respect of the East Anglia One offshore wind farm
- consisting of 102 7MW turbines
- with an overall capacity of up to 714MW
- located in the Southern North Sea approximately 48.3-61.5km off the Suffolk coast of England
Please send responses by 25 March 2022 to:
Last updated 20 May 2022 + show all updates
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Exemption order published.
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First published.