Greenpeace Places 15 Tonnes of Boulders on Seabed Earmarked for Norfolk Windfarm

Greenpeace dropped about 15 tonnes of boulders onto the seabed off the Norfolk coast, most of them on the site earmarked for the Norfolk Vanguard offshore windfarm, The Guardian reported on 14 November 2026.

Each boulder weighed up to 2 tonnes. Greenpeace said the boulders form a barrier meant to stop bottom trawling, a fishing method that drags heavy nets along the seabed, and to protect harbour porpoises, small marine mammals that live in the area.

The drop was made without consent from the marine authority, the body that oversees activity at sea. Greenpeace said it had checked the seabed for existing cables, pipelines or shipwrecks before the drop. It said it was not aware of plans to build the Vanguard East windfarm.

The offshore wind developer for Vanguard East is RWE, a German utility company. RWE is in talks with Greenpeace to confirm the exact position of the boulders, so that it can update seabed surveys it began last summer. Surveys of this kind map the ground beneath the sea before construction begins.

The Vanguard projects are part of a larger plan backed by the UK government. The government has committed £1bn of public money to the Vanguard West and Vanguard East windfarms. Renewable energy developers have also agreed a £12bn deal alongside the government to begin building the offshore windfarm next year. Andy Burnham has backed the Vanguard windfarms.

Will McCallum is co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, the organisation behind the action.