The transmission infrastructure connecting the Isle of Man’s first offshore wind farm to the UK has been granted Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) status by the UK government.
Ørsted’s proposed Mooir Vannin wind farm, which will be located in the Isle of Man’s territorial waters between the island and the UK, will connect to both the Isle of Man and the UK through subsea cables. The development, which if approved by the Isle of Man government will have a generation capacity of around 1.4GW, will the first offshore wind farm for the Isle of Man.
The Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, so developments in its territorial waters do not fall under UK planning regulations, including the NSIP designation. While the onshore connection terminals in the UK, which will include an onshore substation and energy balancing infrastructure, would not normally fall within existing definitions of an NSIP as determined by the 2008 Planning Act, UK government documents note that “The Proposed Development and the Project of which it forms part will play an important role in enabling an energy system that meets the UK’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions and the government’s objectives to create a secure, reliable and affordable energy supply for consumers”.
As such, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has chosen to grant the onshore development NSIP status, in order to “provide the certainty of a single, unified consenting process and fixed timescales.”
John Galloway, development director for the Isle of Man at Ørsted, said: “This direction by the secretary of state in the UK is a testament to our commitment to delivering the Island’s first offshore wind farm.
“This is a significant milestone for the project – the ability to apply for a planning consent for enabling transmission infrastructure in the UK is a crucial step towards the successful delivery of the wind farm and realising the Isle of Man’s goals for sustainable economic development and renewable energy.
“The direction underscores the importance of the project in meeting both the Isle of Man’s future energy security needs as well as the UK’s ambitious carbon reduction goals by delivering reliable, affordable energy.”
The Mooir Vannin wind farm is still early in its development and approvals process. Ørsted has set a target of Spring 2025 for submitting planning applications to the Isle of Man government. If this consent is granted, which is anticipated to happen in early to mid 2026, the operational start date of the wind farm is likely to be between 2030-2032.
If the project goes ahead, it will connect to the UK at Penwortham in Lancashire, and in the Douglas area of the Isle of Man.