WE attended the public consultation event that was held on:- Wednesday, 10 September 2025, at the Hightown Club, on Thirlmere Road in Hightown, regarding Ørsted's East Irish Sea Wind Farm and Transmission Project to find out more.

This project, also known as the Mooir Vannin Offshore Wind Farm, is an ambitious plan to bring approximately 1.4 GW of renewable energy from the Isle of Man to the UK National Grid. 

The project is still in the pre-construction phase and has been designated as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), which allows it to proceed with a Development Consent Order (DCO) application.

Key Project Dates and Locations

Location of the Wind Farm:- The Mooir Vannin Offshore Wind Farm will be located within the Irish Sea, within the Isle of Man's territorial waters, approximately:- 6 to12 nautical miles off the east coast of the island. It is expected to include up t:- 87 wind turbines and three offshore platforms.

Onshore Connection:- The project's onshore infrastructure, referred to as the East Irish Sea Transmission Project, is planned to connect to the National Grid at a substation in Penwortham, Lancashire. The consultation process is currently evaluating potential routes for the cables, with options being considered between:- Formby and Crosby, and another from Fleetwood.

Project Timeline:- While construction dates are not yet finalized, there are projected timelines for key milestones.

• Autumn 2026: Ørsted hopes to share the evolution of the project's design and preliminary results of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
• Autumn 2027 - The Development Consent Order (DCO) application is expected to be submitted.
• 2029 - Construction for the transmission project is currently scheduled to begin.
• 2030 - Construction for the offshore wind farm itself is anticipated to start.
• 2032-2033 - The wind farm is expected to be fully operational.

Ørsted is holding more community engagement events throughout September 2025 to gather public feedback.

Previous dates included:-  Southport, and an event at Fleetwood.

The event in Hightown we attended was 1 of several, with others taking place at the following locations and dates:-

• Thursday, 11 September 2025 - Hambleton Village Hall, Church Ln, Hambleton, Poulton-le-Fylde
• Friday, 12 September 2025 - Newton, Salwick and Clifton Village Hall, Vicarage Lane, Newton-with-Scales
• Saturday, 13 September  2025 - Penwortham Arts Centre, Liverpool Rd, Penwortham, Preston.
• Tuesday, 16 September 2025 - St Aidan’s Village Hall, Renacres Lane, Halsall, Ormskirk.

Ørsted emphasizes that community feedback is a vital part of the process, and it aims to use this input to refine its plans and support local interests.

The UK's electrical grid is a complex network that delivers electricity from where it's generated to where it's used. It's often referred to as the National Grid, but it's actually a system of interconnected networks for both transmission and distribution.

The East Irish Sea Transmission Project is the crucial link that will transport this high-voltage power from the offshore wind farm to the UK. It's the "motorway" of this project, a transmission network that will use subsea and onshore cables. These cables will make landfall in northwest England and then travel underground to a major substation in Penwortham, Lancashire. This substation is the point where the power is transferred from Ørsted's transmission infrastructure to the UK's high voltage National Grid Electricity Transmission network.

It's important to note that the actual number of homes powered by a wind farm can vary depending on a number of factors, including:- wind speed, weather conditions, and how much electricity is being used at any given time. 

If operating at optimal efficiency The Mooir Vannin Offshore Wind Farm is expected to generate approximately 1.4 GW of energy. According to Ørsted, this is enough to power over 1.4 million UK homes. This estimate is based on the average annual electricity consumption of a UK household.

The project is also exploring the possibility of providing up to 100 MW of power directly to the Isle of Man to support the island's own renewable energy and net-zero goals. The remainder would be exported to the UK.

For further details on the project, including the consultation and how to submit feedback, you can visit the official project website.