Development Consent Order granted for North Wales Wind Farm Connection

The DCO has been granted by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial strategy for the North Wales Wind Farm Connection, a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) that will connect two new wind farms in North Wales to the electricity distribution network.

As the UK faces a major challenge with increasing demands for energy and government mandates to tackle climate change and cut emissions through increased new low carbon energy generation, North Wales has been identified as an important location for new renewable energy generation.

Gillespies were commissioned by SP Energy Network in the early stage of the projects' development to advise on routeing and subsequently undertook the landscape and visual impact assessment study and produced the Environmental Statement. The planning team at Gillespies also provided assistance with the application for the Development Consent Order (DCO) to the Planning Inspectorate and during the DCO process, including appearing as expert witnesses.

A spokesperson for SP Energy Networks, said: "We are pleased with the decision today from the Secretary of State in relation to our proposals to connect two new wind farms in North Wales. We will now work closely with our clients to develop a detailed programme of work, and we will continue to keep the local community and stakeholders fully informed. At this stage, our outline programme for construction of the wooden pole line begins latterly in 2016, with completion being targeted towards the end of 2017"