A new buyer for a troubled Norfolk windfarm is unlikely to be able to revive its fortunes, a leading industry expert has warned.

Energy giant Vattenfall is said to have entered negotiations to sell its Norfolk Boreas site after it halted work on the development last month, blaming rising costs and supply chain issues.

The Swedish company said it was “evaluating all options to determine the best way forward”.

But Martin Dronfield, a director of the Opergy group, said a sale would not be enough to guarantee the project would be finished.

Mr Dronfield, who advises the government on green energy, said: “Different delivery partners or investors may have different risk appetites or different strategies with respect to entry into the sector for example, and partnering up with an experienced developer-operator like Vattenfall could be attractive.

“The challenges [they face] are not developer specific, they are industry specific. 

“I do not believe that the chances of building the wind farm would be improved simply by changing the ownership.”

As well as rising costs, which Vattenfall said had increased by more than 40pc because of inflation, Mr Dronfield said developers were being hit by issues with major component suppliers, which he described as “themselves very stretched”.

He added that government support for the renewable energy sector needed to reflect cost increases for developers.

He said: “While the UK government’s 'contracts for difference' mechanism has been very effective in bringing forward renewable capacity to date, Vattenfall and the industry as a whole are arguing that the level of support on offer in each auction round needs to reflect the real-time challenges in the market.”

Responding to questions about the future of the project, a Vattenfall spokesperson said: “While options to deliver the projects as consented are being considered, we remain focused on continued development of the zone which will provide millions of homes and businesses in the UK with low cost, clean power.”