My honourable friend the Minister of State for Science and Innovation (Malcolm Wicks) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has granted consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for the construction of the Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm.

The consent is granted to Greater Gabbard Offshore Winds Limited, an Airtricity and Fluor joint venture. The development will be sited around 23 kilometres from the Suffolk coast and has the potential to generate up to 500 megawatts of electricity.

The decision to grant consent was taken after a thorough consideration of the possible impacts of the project on a range of environmental and other issues and interests and of the advice received from a range of stakeholders, including statutory consultees on navigation and nature conservation issues. The Secretary of State concluded that the impacts envisaged by those making representations will either be of low significance or can be mitigated or avoided by the use of suitable conditions in the Electricity Act consent or in the licence for the project that is to be issued by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985.