1 INTRODUCTION


1.1 The purpose of this document 1.


This document is a Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) for the proposed East Anglia THREE Offshore Windfarm project (henceforth referred to as the proposed East Anglia THREE project). This document provides preliminary information covering all topics of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed project, following the Scoping Opinion from the Planning Inspectorate in 2012.


2.


The purpose of this document is to support consultation under Section 42 of the Planning Act 2008. Feedback from this consultation will be used to inform the finalisation of the Environmental Statement (ES) to be submitted as part of the Development Consent Order (DCO) application in November 2014.


1.2 Background 3.


East Anglia Offshore Wind Limited (EAOW) has a Zone Development Agreement with The Crown Estate to develop up to 7.2 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity off the coast of East Anglia, in Zone 5, under the Round 3 Offshore Wind Licensing Arrangements. EAOW has renamed this Zone the East Anglia Zone. The East Anglia Zone will be developed as a number of individual windfarms, each dependent on securing the relevant statutory consents and approvals.


4.


The first project to be brought forward in the East Anglia Zone was the East Anglia ONE Offshore Windfarm Project (East Anglia ONE), the DCO application for which was submitted in November 2012 and on which a decision is currently awaited from the Secretary of State.


5.


The proposed East Anglia THREE project and East Anglia FOUR Offshore Windfarm Project (henceforth referred to as the East Anglia FOUR project) comprise the second phase of development for the Zone. The proposed East Anglia THREE project is the first of these projects to be brought forward, the proposed East Anglia FOUR project will be subject to a separate DCO application in 2015.


6.


The proposed East Anglia THREE project would comprise offshore wind turbines and offshore electrical converter and collector stations, and offshore and onshore export cables taking power to an onshore converter station. The proposed East Anglia THREE project would have an installed capacity of up to 1,200 megawatts (MW). The western boundary of the East Anglia THREE site is approximately 69km fromthe port of Lowestoft. The East Anglia THREE site and offshore cable corridor are shown in


Preliminary Environmental Information May 2014


East Anglia THREE Offshore Windfarm


Chapter 1 Introduction Page 1


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