The Secretary of State has approved a non-material change to the Norfolk Boreas Development Consent Order (DCO), recorded as The Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Farm (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2025. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirms the decision was issued on 19 December 2025.
The Order updates definitions in Article 2 by adding a definition for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and revises the “undertaker” entry. It also corrects several coordinates in Schedule 1. These are presented as technical adjustments accompanying wider changes to compensation requirements.
Substantive amendments are made to Part 3 of Schedule 19, which governs compensation for cable installation and protection within the Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton Special Area of Conservation (HHW SAC). The Order retains the benthic implementation and monitoring plan (BIMP) framework and associated governance, while removing a previously fixed pre‑commencement requirement tied to debris clearance in the SAC.
A new route is introduced allowing the undertaker to apply to make a Marine Recovery Fund (MRF) Payment where the required area of marine debris cannot be fully removed. This substitutes for the shortfall in on‑site measures and reflects powers for strategic compensation established by section 292 of the Energy Act 2023.
Approval of any MRF pathway is conditional. The Secretary of State must be satisfied the approach is acceptable in principle and that Defra or the MRF operator has confirmed the fund can be used and quantified the sums due. Following approval, no cable installation may proceed in the HHW SAC until an implementation and monitoring plan has been approved and discharge conditions are met.
The Order also clarifies discharge from ongoing compensation duties. Discharge can occur after approval of a completion report, on payment in full to the MRF, or on entering an instalment contract with Defra or the MRF operator and making the first payment, subject to written confirmation from the Secretary of State. Any instalment schedule must then be honoured.
Applications using this route must state the proportion of compensation attributable to impacts shared with the Norfolk Vanguard scheme due to the shared cable corridor, ensuring costs and responsibilities are apportioned transparently between the two projects.
The regulatory basis for this mechanism is now in force. The Marine Recovery Funds Regulations 2025 commenced on 17 December 2025, providing for establishment and operation of one or more funds and setting procedures for approvals, payments and monitoring. They implement the Energy Act 2023 power and confirm Defra’s role.
Operational guidance published by government outlines how developers reserve a strategic compensatory measure via conditional agreement and payment of a reservation fee, allowing consenting authorities to consider fund‑backed compensation in decisions. This offers a workable compliance pathway where on‑site measures prove constrained.