The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has made the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/1362), following an application under paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 to the Planning Act 2008. Made on 18 December 2025 and in force from 19 December 2025, the Statutory Instrument records that the changes are not materially different from those proposed in the application after publicity and consultation under the 2011 Regulations.
The Order amends the Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm Order 2021 (S.I. 2021/1414). It inserts a formal definition of “Defra” in article 2 and replaces the definition of “undertaker” so that the benefit of the Order rests with Norfolk Boreas Limited (Company No. 03722058), subject to article 6. The amending instrument also corrects geospatial coordinates within Schedule 1, aligning the authorised development’s work limits by updating longitudes at points 29 and 67 and both latitude and longitude at point 164.
Substantive revisions are made to Part 3 of Schedule 19, which governs compensation measures for cable installation and protection within the Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton Special Area of Conservation (HHW SAC). New and clarified definitions include the benthic implementation and monitoring plan (BIMP), the benthic steering group (BSG), the HHW SAC compensation plan certified under article 37, and the Marine Recovery Fund and associated payments as recognised compensation mechanisms.
A key operational change is the removal of the pre‑commencement trigger previously requiring at least 8.3 hectares of marine debris removal before any cable installation in the HHW SAC. By omitting that condition from paragraph 30, the Order shifts the scheme to a results‑based approach under which delivery and effectiveness are tracked through the BIMP and subsequent reporting to the decision‑maker and regulators.
Monitoring and reporting duties are strengthened. Unless otherwise agreed, results from the approved monitoring scheme must be submitted at least annually to the Secretary of State, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the relevant statutory nature conservation body. Where monitoring identifies that measures have not secured an improvement in the HHW SAC’s condition, the undertaker must propose and implement remedial actions as approved. A completion report demonstrating delivery of BIMP activities must be lodged within 12 months of those activities finishing, subject to specific exceptions linked to the new payment route.
The Order introduces an adaptive management pathway to use the Marine Recovery Fund established pursuant to section 292 of the Energy Act 2023. Where the required area of marine debris cannot be removed in full, the undertaker may apply to make a Marine Recovery Fund Payment in substitution for the unmet portion. Applications must set out the proportion of obligations attributable to impacts shared with the Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm via the shared cable corridor, and quantify material already removed under the BIMP.
Before any substitution can take effect, the Secretary of State must be satisfied that use of the Marine Recovery Fund is acceptable in principle, including the precise proportion to be substituted, and that Defra or the fund operator has confirmed the fund can be used and has provided a monetary quantification of sums due in lieu of on‑site measures. If approved, no cable installation works may proceed within the HHW SAC until an implementation and monitoring plan has been submitted and approved, and the undertaker has been discharged from further obligations in accordance with the Order.
Clear discharge routes are set out. The undertaker’s obligations under Part 3 of Schedule 19 end either when the Secretary of State approves the completion report following delivery of on‑site measures, upon payment in full of the agreed Marine Recovery Fund sum with written confirmation that compensation requirements are met, or when entering a contract to pay the agreed sum by instalments and making the first payment with written confirmation of sufficiency. An instalment‑based discharge does not remove the legal duty to complete all contracted payments or comply with associated conditions.
For project delivery teams, the amendment provides a strategic compensation alternative that can reduce schedule risk around cable installation while maintaining regulatory oversight through annual reporting and adaptive management. For regulators and statutory nature bodies, it formalises the interface between project‑level measures and the national Marine Recovery Fund, clarifies the treatment of shared impacts with Norfolk Vanguard, and retains enforceable conditions tied to plan approval and payment verification.