Paragraph 1

In this licence—

• “the 2004 Act” means the Energy Act 2004^f1;

• “the 2008 Act” means the Planning Act 2008^f2;

• “the 2009 Act” means the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009^f3;

• “the 2017 Offshore Regulations” means the Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017^f4;

• “the 2017 Regulations” means the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017;

• “Annex 1 reef” means a reef of a type listed in Annex 1 to Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora;

• “array cable” means the cables described in paragraph (b) of Work No. 1 that link the wind turbine generators to each other and to the offshore transformer substations;

• “authorised deposits” means the substances and articles specified in paragraph 4 of Part 1 of this licence;

• “authorised scheme” means Work Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 8 described in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of this licence or any part of that work;

• “buoy” means any floating device used for navigational purposes or measurement purposes, including LiDAR buoys, wave buoys and guard buoys;

• “cable crossings” means the crossing of existing sub-sea cables or pipelines or other existing infrastructure by cable circuits authorised by this Order together with physical protection measures including cable protection;

• “cable protection” means measures to protect cables from physical damage including the use of bagged solutions filled with grout or other materials, protective aprons or coverings, mattresses, flow energy dissipation devices or rock and gravel burial;

• “commence” means the first carrying out of any licensed marine activities authorised by this licence, save for operations consisting of offshore preparation works and the words “commencement” and “commenced” must be construed accordingly;

• “condition” means a condition in Part 2 of this licence;

• “Defence Infrastructure Organisation Safeguarding” means Ministry of Defence Safeguarding, Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Kingston Road, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B75 7RL and any successor body to its functions;

• “enforcement officer” means a person authorised to carry out enforcement duties under Chapter 3 of Part 4 (marine licensing) of the 2009 Act;

• “Environment Agency” means the non-departmental public body of that name created by section 1 of the Environment Act 1995;

• “environmental statement” means the document certified as the environmental statement by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40 (certification of plans etc.);

• “gravity base structure” means a structure principally of steel, concrete, or steel and concrete which rests on the seabed either due to its own weight with or without added ballast or additional skirts and associated equipment including scour protection, J-tubes, corrosion protection systems and access platforms and equipment;

• “Historic England” means the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England;

• “IDRBNR SAC” means the site designated as the Inner Dowsing, Race Bank and North Ridge Special Area of Conservation;

• “in principle monitoring plan” means the document certified as the in principle monitoring plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40 (certification of plans etc.);

• “in principle Southern North Sea SAC Site Integrity Plan” means the document certified as the in principle Southern North Sea SAC Site Integrity Plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40 (certification of plans etc.);

• “interlink cable” means the cables comprised within Work No. 4 that link the offshore transformer substations to each other and to the offshore accommodation platform;

• “JNCC Guidance” means the statutory nature conservation body ‘Guidance for assessing the significance of noise disturbance against Conservation Objectives of harbour porpoise SACs’ Joint Nature Conservation Committee Report No. 654, May 2020 published in June 2020 as amended, updated or superseded from time to time;

• “LAT” means lowest astronomical tide;

• “layout principles” means the layout principles set out in paragraph 25 of Chapter 3 (Project Description) of the environmental statement;

• “licence 2 (transmission)” means the licence set out in Schedule 11 (deemed marine licence under the 2009 Act – offshore transmission assets);

• “licensed activities” means the activities specified in Part 1 of this licence;

• “maintain” includes inspect, upkeep, repair, adjust, and alter and further includes remove, reconstruct and replace (including replenishment of cable protection), but does not include the removal, reconstruction or replacement of foundations associated with the offshore works, to the extent assessed in the environmental statement; and “maintenance” and any derivative of maintain must be construed accordingly;

• “mean high water springs” or “MHWS” means the highest level which spring tides reach on average over a period of time;

• “Marine Management Organisation” or “MMO” means the body created under the 2009 Act which is responsible for the monitoring and enforcement of this licence;

• “MCA” means the Maritime and Coastguard Agency;

• “monopile foundation” means a steel pile, driven and/or drilled into the seabed and associated equipment including scour protection, J-tubes, corrosion protection systems and access platforms and equipment;

• “MSL” means mean sea level;

• “offshore accommodation platform” means a structure attached to the seabed by means of a foundation, with one or more decks and a helicopter platform (including bird deterrents), containing housing accommodation, storage, workshop, auxiliary equipment and facilities for operating, maintaining and controlling the wind turbine generators and offshore electrical installations;

• “offshore Order limits” means the limits shown on the works plans within which the authorised scheme may be carried out;

• “offshore preparation works” means surveys and monitoring seaward of MHWS undertaken prior to the commencement of construction to prepare for construction;

• “offshore transformer substation” means a structure attached to the seabed by means of a foundation, with one or more decks and a helicopter platform (including bird deterrents), containing—

  1. (a)

     electrical equipment required to switch, transform, convert electricity generated at the wind turbine generators to a higher voltage and provide reactive power compensation; and

  2. (b)

     housing accommodation, storage, workshop auxiliary equipment, radar and facilities for operating, maintaining and controlling the substation or wind turbine generators;

• “the Order” means the Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind Farm Order 2026;

• “outline cable specification and installation plan” means the document certified as the outline cable specification and installation plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40;

• “outline fisheries liaison and coexistence plan” means the document certified as the outline fisheries liaison and coexistence plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40;

• “outline marine mammal mitigation protocol (piling)” means the document certified as the outline marine mammal mitigation protocol (piling) by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40;

• “outline offshore operations and maintenance plan” means the document certified as the outline offshore operations and maintenance plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40;

• “outline project environmental management plan” means the document certified as the outline project environmental management plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40;

• “outline scour protection and cable protection management plan” means the document certified as the outline scour protection and cable protection management plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40;

• “outline vessel management plan” means the document certified as the outline vessel management plan by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40;

• “outline marine archaeological written scheme of investigation” means the document certified as the outline marine archaeological written scheme of investigation by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40;

• “pin piles” means steel cylindrical piles driven and/or drilled into the seabed to secure steel jacket foundations;

• “pin pile jacket foundation” means a jacket/lattice-type structure constructed of steel which is fixed to the seabed at three or more points with steel pin piles and associated equipment including scour protection, J-tubes, corrosion protection systems and access platform(s) and equipment;

• “SAC” means special area of conservation;

• “statutory historic body” means Historic England or its successor in function;

• “statutory nature conservation body” means the appropriate nature conservation body as defined in regulation 5 of the 2017 Regulations;

• “suction bucket” means large diameter steel cylindrical shells which penetrate the seabed assisted by a hydrostatic pressure differential for securing steel jacket foundations;

• “suction bucket jacket foundation” means a jacket/lattice-type structure constructed of steel which is fixed to the seabed at three or more points with steel suction buckets and associated equipment including scour protection, J-tubes, corrosion protection systems and access platform(s) and equipment;

• “Trinity House” means the Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond;

• “undertaker” means GT R4 Limited (company number 13281221);

• “vessel” means every description of vessel, however propelled or moved, and includes a non-displacement craft, a personal watercraft, a seaplane on the surface of the water, a hydrofoil vessel, a hovercraft or any other amphibious vehicle and any other thing constructed or adapted for movement through, in, on or over water and which is at the time in, on or over water;

• “UK Hydrographic Office” means the UK Hydrographic Office of Admiralty Way, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 2DN;

• “wind turbine generator” means a structure comprising a tower, rotor with three blades connected at the hub, nacelle and ancillary electrical and other equipment which may include J-tube(s), transition piece, access and rest platforms, access ladders, boat access systems, corrosion protection systems, fenders and maintenance equipment, helicopter landing facilities and other associated equipment, fixed to a foundation;

• “Work No. 3” means—

  1. (a)

     up to four small offshore transformer substations each fixed to the seabed by monopile, gravity base structure, pin pile jacket or suction bucket jacket foundations; or

  2. (b)

     up to two large offshore transformer substations each fixed to the seabed by monopile, gravity base structure, pin pile jacket or suction bucket jacket foundations; and

• “works plans” means the plans certified as the works plans onshore and works plans offshore by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Order under article 40 (certification of plans etc.).

reference to any statute, order, regulation or similar instrument is construed as a reference to a statute, order, regulation or instrument as amended by any subsequent statute, order, regulation or instrument or as contained in any subsequent re-enactment.

Unless otherwise indicated—

Except where otherwise notified in writing by the relevant organisation, the primary point of contact with the organisations listed below and the address for returns and correspondence are—