UK energy ministers have approved a non-material amendment to the 2021 Norfolk Boreas Development Consent Order. Published on 19 December 2025, the change updates compensation and oversight for works that interact with the Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton Special Area of Conservation.
The instrument-The Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2025-introduces an optional route to meet habitats compensation through a Marine Recovery Fund payment where agreed debris‑removal targets cannot be fully delivered. The route is grounded in section 292 of the Energy Act 2023, which permits payments to discharge compensation conditions subject to determination by the relevant decision‑maker.
The revised schedule retains the Benthic Implementation and Monitoring Plan and the Benthic Steering Group as the delivery mechanisms. Results from the monitoring scheme must, unless otherwise agreed, be submitted at least annually to the Secretary of State, the Marine Management Organisation and the relevant statutory nature conservation body, with remedial proposals implemented once approved.
A fixed pre‑commencement requirement for debris removal has been replaced with an adaptive management approach. Where a Marine Recovery Fund route is approved, no cable installation may proceed within the SAC until an implementation and monitoring plan is approved and compensation obligations are discharged in line with the instrument.
Discharge can occur once a completion report is approved, on full payment into the Marine Recovery Fund, or by entering a contract to pay by instalments and making the first payment; in the latter case, the undertaker remains bound to complete the payment schedule. Oversight remains with the Secretary of State in consultation with the Marine Management Organisation and the statutory nature conservation body.
Where impacts are shared with Norfolk Vanguard because both schemes use the same offshore export cable corridor, any application to use the fund must evidence the proportion of the overall removal requirement and what has already been achieved, to prevent double counting between the projects.
Article changes also update definitions: “Defra” is now expressly defined for the purposes of fund operation, and the undertaker is confirmed as Norfolk Boreas Limited (Company No. 03722058). Companies House records corroborate the company number and registered details referenced in the consent.
The authorised development description is corrected through minor coordinate updates at three points in the offshore works plan. These are routine accuracy changes to align the legal text with geospatial datasets and do not alter the consented project envelope.
For delivery teams, the amendment provides a clearer fallback where debris removal proves infeasible while tightening reporting and iterative management. Budgeting for a Marine Recovery Fund determination, programming the new approval gateways, and maintaining evidence for annual submissions will be essential.
This non-material change sits alongside recent regulatory activity: the Marine Management Organisation varied the Deemed Marine Licences across the Norfolk projects with effect from 1 October 2025, and the Secretary of State approved a Version 2 benthic plan in July 2024 under the compensation schedule. Together, these decisions frame what will be scrutinised before further works proceed within the SAC.