The Department of Energy and Climate Change confirmed in September that planning permission had been refused for up to 194 turbines on the site off the south coast of England that would have generated 970 megawatt (MW) of green energy. A proposal for smaller alternative project of 105 turbines was also turned down.

Today’s announcement marks the end of a five-year-battle and defeat for the Navitus Bay scheme, which was a 50-50 joint venture between Eneco Wind UK Ltd and EDF Energy Renewables, and would have been located off the Dorset and Hampshire coasts, to the west of the Isle of Wight.

In a statement released today, Stuart Grant, Project Director at Navitus Bay, said: “After careful consideration, Navitus Bay has chosen not to challenge the decision by the Secretary of State to refuse consent for the proposed wind park. We would like to thank the communities on the South Coast and all our stakeholders for their engagement throughout the project. We would also like to extend a thank you to the potential suppliers, who worked incredibly hard to inform our proposal.

“Over the course of the project we have gathered data from a wide range of offshore surveys and studies. This wealth of information includes environmental material such as bird and mammal surveys, human activity evaluations including shipping, navigation and archaeological data, and physical environmental detail like geotechnical data and sediment sampling.

“We recognise that this marine data is valuable and can provide a legacy by helping to stimulate research, support academia and contribute towards the sustainable management of the seabed. We will therefore by making this data available in 2016 via The Crown Estate’s Marine Data Exchange.