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Cases / Wind, hydro and other renewables · United Kingdom · 2020–2026

Offshore wind wake effect disputes (Ørsted, UK and Germany)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

Offshore wind farms slow the wind for farms downwind of them. In UK and German waters, developers dispute who bears the resulting losses, and UK law does not define the effect.

US$778 millionLifetime loss claimed by Equinor and SSE from RWE's Dogger Bank South project
A claim by the two companies, not a finding.

Status As of May 2026: no ruling or settlement of the Dogger Bank South wake dispute found; EN-3 leaves compensation to commercial agreement.

What?
Disputes between offshore wind developers over losses caused when an upwind farm slows the wind reaching a downwind farm.
Where?
UK waters (Dogger Bank, Irish Sea) and the German North Sea.
When?
2020–2026.
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Equinor and SSE — Claimed lifetime losses of US$778 million from Dogger Bank South.
Harmed
None on record
Why?
UK law does not define wake effects and EN-3 leaves compensation to commercial agreement.
How?
Newcomers are expected to make reasonable efforts and assess wake effects; compensation is negotiated commercially.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Behind a wind turbine the air is slower and more turbulent. Wind farms downwind of another farm receive less wind; this is called the wake effect. RenewEconomy reported in May 2025 that the effect cut the output of the downwind farm by 5% to 20% and could extend up to 70 kilometres. About 20 gigawatts of projects in UK waters were involved in such disputes.

Equinor and SSE said RWE's Dogger Bank South project would cause their farms lifetime losses of US$778 million. RWE's UK executive said developers should live with the risk they took.

A law firm note of June 2025 (Watson Farley & Williams) stated that the wake effect and "wind theft" are not defined in British law. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband asked for an assessment of the effect of a new BP and EnBW plant in the Irish Sea on Ørsted's plants. The renewable energy national policy statement EN-3, in force from 6 January 2026, expects a newcomer to make "reasonable efforts" and assess the wake effect, but states that the planning system will not decide wake-loss compensation, which is a commercial matter between companies.

In Germany, a 2020 study for the North Sea coast showed wind weakening as more farms were built. In May 2026 TotalEnergies filed a position in the parliamentary lobby register asking that the Offshore Wind Act (WindSeeG) provide that later-tendered sites must not devalue sites already awarded. In August 2025 two North Sea sites had received no bids.

  1. 2020Study of the German North Sea coast: wind weakens as farms increase
  2. 2025May: RenewEconomy reports 5–20% wake losses up to 70 km and about 20 GW of UK projects in dispute; June: Watson Farley & Williams note says the effect is undefined in British law; August: two German North Sea sites receive no bids
  3. 20266 January: EN-3 in force; May: TotalEnergies lobby-register position on WindSeeG

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Who bears wake-effect losses between neighbouring wind farms?
Company or project
Equinor and SSE

Said Dogger Bank South would cause their farms lifetime losses of US$778 million.

Company or project
RWE

Its UK executive said developers should live with the risk they took.

Government and regulators
UK planning policy (EN-3)

The planning system will not decide compensation; it is a commercial matter between companies.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • Wake effect and "wind theft" are not defined in British law (law firm note, June 2025)
    • EN-3 states that planning will not decide wake-loss compensation
    • Two German North Sea sites received no bids in August 2025

    Who gained

    Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

    Reached nature or the ground

    Not published
    No figure published.

    Gained elsewhere

    Not totalled
    Currency: USD · Window: claimed lifetime loss. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    Responses on record

    • rwe (2025): Its UK executive said developers should live with the risk they took.
    • totalenergies (May 2026): Filed a position in the German parliamentary lobby register asking that later-tendered sites must not devalue sites already awarded.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Downwind output loss
    5–20%
    Reported by RenewEconomy, May 2025; effect up to 70 km
    UK capacity in dispute
    About 20 GW
    Reported 2025
    Wake effect in UK law
    Not defined
    Law firm note, June 2025

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    No court caseNo independent ecological evaluation

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

    Court

    Accounts

    • Disputed Who bears wake-effect losses between neighbouring wind farms?

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: in its planning filings Ørsted stated that protections against wake effects are in consent conditions for Awel y Môr (condition 25), Mona, Morecambe and Outer Dowsing (decision of 10 February 2026) but not in Five Estuaries, and that it withdrew its objection to Morgan after a commercial agreement. The filings could not be checked.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Ørsted estimated its own loss from Dogger Bank South at £84 million to £295 million. The filing could not be checked and the Dogger Bank South decision was not found.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a University of Bergen study states that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea does not regulate cross-border wake effects.
    • None on record No source states who ultimately bears wake-loss compensation when it is settled commercially.

    Did the harm stop?

    The sources reviewed do not report any change in the wake effect.

    Who paid?

    The sources reviewed do not say who pays; compensation is left to commercial negotiation under EN-3.

    Sources

    Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Company or project

    1. Ørsted IPs: response to February 2026 request for information
      Planning Inspectorate (Ørsted submission) · 2026-02

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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