Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm

Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm has been fully operational since 2007 and comprises 25 wind turbines with a total capacity of 90 MW and provides enough power for over 80,000 homes.

An extension to the project completed construction in 2017 and is fully operational. The project is 100% owned by Ørsted. Situated on the Burbo Flats in Liverpool Bay at the entrance to the River Mersey, approximately 6.4km (4.0miles) from the Sefton coastline and 7.2km (4.5miles) from North Wirral. The area it covers covered is 10km2 – equal to 1,400 Anfield football pitches.

This multi-million-pound project provides a base for 45 full-time staff and by 2025, it is expected to have contributed £70 million in Gross Value Added in the Liverpool city area.

Womble Bond Dickinson was instructed to:

• Advise on the consenting strategy
• Secure development consent for those elements of the project in England
• Secure planning consent for those elements of the project in Wales
• Secure separate compulsory purchase orders under the Electricity Act to lay cables in Wales
• Negotiation and completion of all onshore cable rights and easements.

Since the Planning Act 2008, a much more formal approach has been introduced for consulting on applications, submitting the applications and examining them by mean of written submissions or hearings. Womble Bond Dickinson was brought in to steer the project through potential regulatory challenges and to ensure that all necessary project consents were granted. 

The consenting strategy was particularly crucial on this project because it lay partly in England and partly in Wales. Associated development under the Development Consent Order did not apply to Wales and separate planning consents and Compulsory Purchase Order were needed for the onshore cable route and substation in Wales. 

It was also necessary to obtain separate marine licences for the English and Welsh sections of the offshore cable, dealing with separate regulatory authorities in Newcastle and Cardiff.