The company building a pair of massive wind farms off the Norfolk coast are "not aware" of concerns about Russian sleeper bombs potentially attacking offshore infrastructure.
Vattenfall, the Swedish firm behind the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone, 50km off the coast from Happisburgh, is working with the Ministry of Defence to upgrade radar systems off the Norfolk coast to "help to keep the windfarms and the coastline secure."
This comes as a former head of the Royal Navy warned that offshore windfarms are at risk of attack by the Russian army.
Admiral Lord West told the Daily Mail that Russian forces may have already put sleeper explosives on critical infrastructure in Britain's North Sea.
Speaking at the East of England Energy Group’s (EEEGR) Southern North Sea Conference and Exhibition – SNS 2023 – on Wednesday (May 24), Denise Hone, senior stakeholder and community engagement manager for Vattenfall's project in Norfolk, said the company had heard nothing about concerns of so-called Russian sleeper bombs.
"We work collaboratively with the Ministry of Defence," she said.
In 2019, this newspaper reported that military radars will have to be built in north Norfolk because of Vattenfall's wind farms.
This followed a warning from the MoD in 2017 that the turbines would have a 'significant and detrimental affect' on Remote Radar Head Trimingham.
READ MORE: Region could become offshore wind 'superpower' but faces 'skills crisis'
READ MORE: Crumbling coast fear means Norfolk's 'golf ball' radar must be moved
John Wawer, head of communications for Equinar UK Renewables, said that the potential for attacks of wind farms is "a national security concern".
"It has potential ramifications but it is something that the national security agencies would be focussing on," he added.
Once completed, the 4.2GW wind zone will supply more than 10pc of the UK’s domestic energy, or 4.6m houses across the country.
Turbines on the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone are expected to start to turn in 2027 with onshore construction starting later this year.
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