Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm increases funding for North Norfolk community projects
Since its establishment in 2010, the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund has received a donation of £100,000 per annum from the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm, which is operated by energy company Equinor, to support community projects in North Norfolk.
In that time, the Fund’s grant awards of over £1.3million have made a significant difference to the lives of many residents by supporting some 140 local initiatives.
From 2025 a generous increase in the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm’ s donation to the Fund to £150,000 per annum will ensure that many more North Norfolk communities and organisations have the opportunity to benefit from the Fund each year.
Colin Galer
Announcing the increase in the annual donation, Colin Galer, the Plant Manager of the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm, said:
“I am delighted that our board of Directors has made the decision to increase the annual donation to the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund.
“North Norfolk is primarily a rural district, consisting of many small and quite isolated communities, and I know that the Fund’s support for projects associated with sports facilities, schools, parish councils, village halls and community centres, marine and beach safety services, local charities and community transport groups makes an important contribution to sustaining and enhancing rural life.”
He added: “ Energy efficiency initiatives and improving the sustainability of a wide range of community facilities and services have become themes which are common to many of the applications which have been received by the Fund over the last few years.”
The Sheringham Shoal Community Fund is administered by the Norfolk Community Foundation, and full details of the funding criteria and the straightforward application process can be found at (www.norfolkfoundation.com)
About Equinor in Norfolk
Equinor is a long-term partner for Norfolk and has been an active member of the community for over a decade through the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms it operates off the Norfolk coast
The Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm is owned by Equinor, Masdar and China Resources Consortium, whilst Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm is owned by Equinor, a subsidiary of Equitix Offshore 3 Limited (co-owned by funds managed by Equitix and The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG)) and Macquarie Asset Management (via Macquarie GIG Renewable Energy Fund 1).
On behalf of its partners, Equinor is maturing the proposed Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Extension projects. Following unitisation of the two, the Extensions project will double the capacity of the existing Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms, providing renewable energy to power an additional 785,000 UK homes and making an important contribution to the UK’s decarbonisation goals.
Currently, the combined output of Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms is sufficient to power around 710,000 UK homes, and the proposed extensions will increase that to nearly 1.5 million UK households.
Both wind farms have established community funds which in total have awarded over £1.65 million to projects in Norfolk. The funds were set up to provide grants to Norfolk community groups, including schools and charities, seeking financial assistance for projects or initiatives that meet key criteria and focus on renewable energy, marine environment and safety, sustainability, or education in these areas. During 2020, the funds provided grant funding to the Norfolk Community Foundation’s COVID-19 funding initiatives, and during 2021 grant funding has been made available to support Norfolk’ s ‘every child on-line’ initiative.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Alice Baxter
UK Media Relations Manager, Equinor
Abax@equinor.com
+44 7557973941
For consultation of community enquiries, please contact:
Nigel Tompkins, the Projects’ Community Liaison Officer based in Norfolk,
nigel@ni4b.co.uk