125-turbine offshore wind farm can bring ‘significant benefits to north of Scotland’
The developers of a 125-turbine wind farm off the north coast have promised that it can bring “significant long-term economic benefits” to the region after the project got the nod from Highland Council.
The local authority agreed to raise no objection to West of Orkney Wind farm’s offshore plans, which are outlined in an offshore consent application submitted to Scottish ministers in 2023.
The wind farm site is around 25km from the north Sutherland coast and about 30km west of Orkney Mainland. It will involve cable landfalls east of Dounreay – at Crosskirk and/or Greeny Geo – as well as a substation at Spittal and underground cables covering a distance of around 33km.
If approved, the wind farm will have 125 turbines on fixed foundations with a blade-tip height of up to 360m. It will have an expected capacity of around 2GW, with first power scheduled by 2030.
The offshore plans before the north planning applications committee this week contained details of how the wind farm will be constructed, together with additional environmental information which was submitted last year and acknowledged by government agency NatureScot for its clarity.
In June last year, the onshore connections and plans for a new substation in Caithness were given outline approval by Highland councillors.
The final decision on the offshore consent will be made by Scottish ministers.
West of Orkney Wind farm development manager Jack Farnham said: “This is another important milestone for the West of Orkney Windfarm, and we are grateful to Highland Council for its support.
“This paves the way to full offshore consent which, if secured, would enable us to enter into a forthcoming UK ‘contract for difference’ auction round – which is a vital step in the advancement of both the project and its supply chain.
“West of Orkney Wind farm is a major energy infrastructure scheme which can bring significant long-term economic benefits to the north of Scotland and beyond.
“We will continue to work on achieving the critical remaining project milestones in order to generate clean power by 2030.”
The wind farm is being developed by a joint venture comprising Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and Renewable Infrastructure Development Group.
The developers have supported a number of initiatives in the north of Scotland, including a £1 million research and development programme being led by the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, a £900,000 education initiative led by the University of the Highlands and Islands and a £125,000 Fit for Offshore Renewables scheme led by ORE Catapult.
The wind farm was backed by councillors in Orkney over a year ago.
The offshore consent submission includes applications for consent under the Electricity Act 1989 and marine licence applications under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Accompanying these are assessments based on survey data collected over two-and-a-half years.
