The four proposed wind farms are as follows:
Neart na Gaoithe, led by Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd and situated 15 km off the coast of Fife; Inch Cape Offshore Limited (ICOL), a joint venture partnership formed between Repsol Nuevas Energías UK Limited and EDP Renewables UK Limited, 150 km2 off the Angus Coast; and projects Alpha and Bravo, located 27km and 38km, respectively, at their closest points from the Angus coastline. These are being taken forward by Seagreen Wind Energy Ltd (Seagreen), a joint venture partnership formed between Fluor Ltd and SSE Renewables.
When complete, the wind farms will collectively generate enough clean energy to power around 1.4 million homes.
“Today’s consent announcements from Scottish Government are another milestone in what has been a landmark year for the UK’s offshore wind industry,” said Ronnie Quinn, Lead for Energy and Infrastructure in Scotland for The Crown Estate. “As manager of the UK seabed, we are delighted to see such positive decisions coming through the planning process, further cementing the UK’s position as a global leader in offshore wind and continuing to attract investors to Scotland.”
Lindsay Leask, senior policy manager at Scottish Renewables, said the consents represent a “massive leap forward for Scotland’s emerging offshore wind industry," taking the country a step closer to realising the social, economic and environmental benefits of this hugely-important technology.
The Crown Estate has invested up to a £100 million in a range of projects and research designed to accelerate development and attract investors for offshore wind. For example, earlier this year two sites that were helped progress: the Beatrice and MORL offshore wind projects, in the
Moray Firth, were awarded consents totalling 1,866 MW; and earlier this summer The Crown Estate announced the lease for UK’s first offshore demonstration of two-bladed turbines on the seabed at Methil.
“All commercial-scale Scottish offshore wind projects now have consent, and have the potential to generate up to 4.15GW of clean electricity – enough to power up to three million homes,” Leask added. “The focus now moves on to whether developers can access a
Contract for Difference — the new support mechanism for nuclear, renewables and carbon capture and storage - which the backers of the projects need to finalise their investments.”