Westminster has approved a non‑material change to the Norfolk Boreas Development Consent Order, effective from 19 December 2025. The update adds a route for payments into the new Marine Recovery Fund if part of the seabed debris removal in the Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton SAC can’t be delivered, alongside tidy‑ups to definitions and coordinates.

Why it matters up here: certainty. A clear fallback for habitat compensation should lower the risk of cable‑installation delays, which keeps work flowing for marine contractors and fabricators along the Tees, Humber and Tyne. In a year when schedules have been tight across the North Sea, a predictable framework is welcome on the quayside.

Inside the legal change, officials have added a definition for Defra, reaffirmed Norfolk Boreas Limited as the undertaker, corrected three mapping points, and set out how the developer can apply to make a Marine Recovery Fund payment where the targeted debris removal can’t be achieved. Those payments would discharge obligations if signed off by the Secretary of State.

The Marine Recovery Fund was created under the Energy Act 2023 to allow, in certain cases, “payments… towards expenditure on measures to compensate for adverse environmental effects” from offshore wind. Regulations made this year set out how one or more funds can operate across the UK and how payments can count towards planning conditions.

For context, the HHW SAC is a vast offshore conservation site off Norfolk, designated for sandbanks and patchy Sabellaria spinulosa reef. Any cable‑laying there needs careful handling; the compensation plan sits on top of that. Northern readers will recognise the parallels with sensitive North Sea areas off Yorkshire and Northumberland.

Oversight remains central. Results from monitoring must be submitted at least annually to the Secretary of State, the MMO and the nature body, with follow‑up action required if measures aren’t working. That mirrors the tighter approach the MMO has been taking on the projects’ marine licences this autumn.

There’s also a corporate footnote with regional relevance. The Norfolk Zone is now led by RWE, after the company completed its purchase from Vattenfall in March 2024. The government’s decision notice lists RWE Renewables UK as the applicant on this change, while the undertaker vehicle remains Norfolk Boreas Limited.

Supply‑chain signals have been steadily improving. Earlier in the year, Aker Solutions and Siemens Energy received full notice to proceed on the sister Vanguard projects-important for yards and vessel operators that work both the Humber and Teesside. The Boreas consent update adds another piece of schedule certainty.

There is a live policy debate to watch. Ministers have floated using the Marine Recovery Fund approach alongside reforms to nature rules for major projects; green groups want proof that payments deliver real habitat gains, not box‑ticking. Expect scrutiny of where any fund cash is spent.

Key dates: the Order was made on 18 December 2025, came into force on 19 December, and appeared in the official lists on 24 December. For Northern ports and contractors planning 2026 work, the message is straightforward-compensation can be delivered either in the water or, with approval, via the Fund.