A land of Eastern promise

With its unique, and growing, mix of energy sources, there has never been such a time for the region to lead the way with cross-industry working towards the same outcome – the decarbonisation of the UK, net zero.

More than half a century of offshore energy expertise is the foundation on which to build a world-class energy production and distribution hub with dynamic solutions to many industry challenges that will deliver the region industrial benefits, jobs, investment and amplified global profile.

In recent years, employment in the regional sector has grown by 14 per cent and its business creates a turnover of £17billion a year.

Dan McGrail, CEO of RenewableUK, said the East of England’s leading role in offshore wind is central to the UK’s energy security.

“We are looking at the industrialisation of offshore wind. This should be the golden age of renewable energy in this country and the East of England is right at the heart of it.”

Offshore wind development – already big business for the region – has a pipeline of 6.7GW consented projects in the pipeline with developers Vattenfall and ScottishPower Renewables alone, enough to power 6.6 million UK homes.

Vattenfall’s Norfolk Zone – made up of the Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas wind farms – won consent to deliver 3.6GW of clean electricity for up to four million households – and 10 per cent of the UK’s future domestic electricity needs – from its developments 45 miles off the Norfolk coast.

It has announced a £15m Community Benefit Fund for climate smarter schemes for Norfolk communities to ensure opportunities from its projects spread further than industry and deep into the fabric of family life in the country.

Work starting this summer on the 1.2GW East Anglia THREE for ScottishPower Renewables, the first of its three-windfarm £6bn East Anglia Hub, which, together will generate enough clean energy to power 2.7 million homes.

The region celebrated in March 2022 when the hub’s two other wind farms, East Anglia ONE North and East Anglia TWO achieved government consent.

The East Anglia Hub will deliver 6 per cent of the government’s ‘build back greener’ commitment.

Both projects will use HVDC cable technology which reduces environmental impacts, co-located infrastructure and shared cable routes.

Parts of the construction of both projects will be ongoing at the same time, which throws up challenges and opportunities for the region in terms of skills and workforce, and the developers to move forward together.

A further 3GW is currently in planning off the East of England coast.

• North Falls, a 504MW extension of Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm,

off Lowestoft

• Five Esturaries, a 300MW extension of the Galloper Offshore Wind Farm off Suffolk and operated from Harwich

• Sheringham Shoal extension, a 317MW expansion (SEP)

• Dudgeon extension, a 402MW of Dudgeon (DEP)

The Norfolk Zone and East Anglia THREE will await the Contracts for Difference auctions results expected in early July.

With a total of 8.GW offshore wind, the region will have:

• 6,000 well-paid full-time jobs by 2032 – a 600 per cent increase on today

• Key opportunities in:

• Construction

• Grid connection

• Operations and Maintenance

NORFOLK ZONE, VATTENFALL

Project director Rob Anderson said: “At 3.6GW, it makes it one of the largest projects in the world. “This is really happening. We are ready to go," he said.

“If we are successful in the CfD round in July we will press the button and everything will come very quickly in respect of contractors and the spend we will make in the region.

“This is an exciting time. All of the experience we have to date is being employed in the Norfolk zone.

“The whole market is in an exciting time and it is unprecedented.”

Work had been ongoing with the supply chain since Vattenfall first moved into Norfolk to plan the projects nearly seven years ago, working with businesses, schools, colleges and organisations to identify skills gaps to “enough skills and people to build these world-class projects.”

Onshore work timetable

• 2022 – preconstruction surveys at Necton onshore substation site

• 2022 – preconstruction surveys along the cable route from Happisburgh landfall to Necton

• 2023-5 – duct installation

• 2023-8 – onshore substation preparation and construction

• 2025-8 – onshore cable installation

Offshore work timetable

• 2022-3 – offshore site investigation

• 2026-8 – export cable installation

• 2026-8 – offshore substation installation and commissioning

• 2026-8 – foundations installation

• 2026-8 – inter-array cable installation

• 2027-9 – turbine installation and commissioning

• 2027 – first power

THE EAST ANGLIA HUB, SCOTTISHPOWER RENEWABLES

The hub will be four times the size of East Anglia ONE with 260 next generation 14.7MW turbines.

ScottishPower Renewables has already invested more than £140m in local businesses for East Anglia ONE and created more than 100 jobs at its Lowestoft operations and maintenance base.

Charlie Jordan, offshore director for UK and Ireland, said East Anglia ONE was powering clean energy with “jobs filled by local people.”

The government target of 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 illustrated “the message is there to drive forward our industry and drive forward and accelerate to reach these targets.

“The common theme is that we all have to work together to decarbonise and accelerate towards Net Zero. Never before has there been such opportunities to work together for the same outcome – net zero.

“The opportunities are there. I have been coming to the East of England since 2015 and it has been building up to this. We need to give the supply chain confidence to innovate.”

East Anglia THREE timeline

• 2022 (summer) – enabling works

starts for construction of the onshore converter station

• 2023 – UXO investigation and complete detailed design

• 2024 – complete onshore grid connections and fabrication

offshore starts

• 2025 – foundations start to be installed

• 2026 – turbines installed

East Anglia ONE North and East Anglia THREE will be in Round 5 CfD next year in the new annual auctions announced by the government earlier this year.

HYDROGEN

In February 2022, Conrad Energy was granted planning consent by East Suffolk Council for a 3MW project of three hydrogen electrolysers and associated storage at Lowestoft Power Park.

Powered by clean electricity, it will have the potential to produce up to 470 tonnes of hydrogen a year, enough to heat the equivalent of 1,500 average homes or power 60 hydrogen fuelled HGVs travelling 50,000 miles a year.

Construction has started on a 7MW flexible generation site that forms part of the proposal and will bring grid stability to the wider Lowestoft area at times of high demand and grid stress – business in the local area could benefit.

INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT

Ports

ABP Lowestoft’s £25m Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) project will upgrade Lowestoft’s Outer Harbour to accommodate the next generation offshore wind support vessels and provide an O&M site and quayside suitable for offshore wind construction activities.

Roads

Great Yarmouth’s new £120m Third Crossing and Lowestoft’s £143m Gull Wing bridge will open next year bringing dramatic improvements to traffic flow.

Freeport East and Hydrogen Hub

One of the world’s most innovative transport decarbonisation schemes is being developed by EDF and Ryse Hydrogen.

They are building the UK’s first hydrogen production and distribution network with Wrightbus and JCB to produce 1GW of hydrogen, 20 per cent of the government’s 5GW target.

Hydrogen will be produced by offshore wind farms, greener maritime with hydrogen application will be developed at Felixstowe and Harwich ports for port equipment and marine vessels and zero emissions transport – hydrogen powered buses, trucks and agricultural vehicles – will be powered.

BACTON 2.0

Norfolk’s 50-year-old gas terminal has been earmarked as a key national low carbon energy hub.

About 30 per cent of the UK’s gas flows through Bacton, and it has been identified by the North Sea Transition Authority to play a vital role for Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) and hydrogen, supplying key markets in London and the south east.

By 2030, Bacton could supply nearly 20 per cent of the government’s target of 5GW of low carbon production.

By 2050, it plans to develop offshore wind facilities that can produce renewable hydrogen.

The hub would provide carbon reductions and allow for SNS gas assets to be extended beyond 40-50 year forecast.

Investment decisions are expected in 2024.

NUCLEAR POWER’S GROWTH

The £20bn Sizewell C by developer EDF will be a catalyst for supply chain and jobs growth in the region.

About £4.4bn of construction cost is estimated to be spent in the east of England, with £2bn estimated to be spent in Suffolk.

Once built, in its 60 years of operations, a total of £16.1bn is estimated to be spent in the region, with £12.7bn in Suffolk.

It is currently awaiting a delayed government decision.

Its 10-12 year construction will create benefits including:

• 73,000 jobs, including 25,000 in Suffolk

• More than 2,500 businesses across the UK

• 1,500 apprenticeships

SOLAR CENTRE

The East of England is predicted to be the UK’s leading centre for solar power by 2035.

A total of 139 solar energy projects are installed in the region, which is about 14 per cent of the UK’s current capacity.

Another 1GW of capacity has planning permission and connection agreement and another 1.7GW is in the planning system, with 3GW at the scoping phase.

The industry will create 10,000 jobs by the end of the decade.

Norfolk already has one of the country’s highest concentrations of solar installations with more than 21,000 and the government wants Norfolk to produce five times as much electricity from the sun by 2035.

WORLD-LEADING SNS SUPPLY CHAIN MUST TAKE RISKS

The SNS will continue to play an important part in the energy mix.

Production from the SNS is about a third of the UK’s energy supply and it is the largest potential storage network.

There is still five trillion cubic feet of untapped gas in the SNS, its value escalating since the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Decarbonisation of the gas sector through platform electricity, gas to wire and power to gas technology lays ahead with innovation.

Tim Eggar, of the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) said the supply chain had to take risks for the SNS to reach its full potential.

“The North Sea is open for business. The new phase of low carbon energy production in the SNS is so important – integration can contribute 30 per cent of the Energy Transition target, mainly through CCUS.

“The UKCS can achieve 60 per cent of the need when you add in wind, hydrogen and hydro. It has a lot of potential for this region.”

THE SNS oil and gas supply chain is well known and it leads the world, he said.

“It must be willing to take risks and take advantage of the extraordinary demand.

“The supply chain needs to innovate and change and come up with new solutions.

“The supply chain must step up to the challenges and the opportunities”.