ScottishPower Renewables is building three offshore wind farms known as the East Anglia Hub off the east coast of the UK. This undertaking will see the development of three projects capable of delivering a total installed capacity of 2,900 MW: East Anglia ONE North, East Anglia TWO and East Anglia THREE. The works commenced in 2022 and are expected to take four years.
Services Used
- Strategic Communications
- Community Consultation
- Stakeholder Relations
- Community Information Office
- Event Management
- Creative and digital
The Challenge
The final two projects of the East Anglia Hub to be developed were East Anglia ONE North and East Anglia TWO. These projects have been developed in parallel and share an onshore development area in Suffolk.
The onshore elements for these projects are located in coastal and inshore rural areas that are highly controversial and attract a lot of negative engagement and media coverage. With one of our team working as an embedded part of the SPR stakeholder team, a robust communication strategy was formulated and implemented to keep stakeholders informed of developing plans and project activity and enable them to feel heard over six years and five rounds of pre-application consultation.
The Solution
Openness and transparency were essential with our knowledgeable and highly invested stakeholders. Messaging and presentation of complex proposals were well thought out in advance to present the right level of information to the right people.
Construction impact was a key concern, particularly as the cable route travelled through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. With real-life examples, having previously supported East Anglia ONE’s stakeholder engagement management throughout the construction of a 40km onshore cable route, we were able to utilise these and talk people through the exact activity that is undertaken and how the local environment and wildlife are protected.
Having experience of how the construction process was actually carried out provides real-life examples of how impacts and disruptions are minimised and provides good news stories. Showing imagery of before and after construction shows how areas are reinstated and impacts are temporary and minimal.
The Results
Over six years engagement was carried out with circa 12,000 people from the local community. Applications were submitted in late 2019 for East Anglia ONE North and East Anglia TWO. Planning consent was given by the Secretary of State in March 2022.
