The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Partnership plans twin north-east wind projects
Two large-scale wind farm developments off coast of Montrose
Anew mammoth offshore wind project has applied for consent off the north-east coast of Scotland.
A joint partnership between SSE and Fluor, Seagreen Wind Energy will develop two large scale offshore projects named Seagreen Alpha Offshore Wind Farm (OWF) and Seagreen Bravo OWF.
The combined 120-turbine development aims to generate a capacity of over 1 gigawatt (GW), making it the largest energy generating wind farm in Scotland.
Plans submitted to Marine Scotland show that the development will be north of the planned Inch Cape Offshore Wind development, less than 20 miles off the coast of Montrose.
A spokeswoman for SSE said: “Seagreen Wind Energy Limited, a joint venture between SSE and Fluor, has submitted a new application to Scottish Ministers seeking consent for revisions to its planned offshore wind farm projects off the Angus coast.
“The new consent would optimise the design of the projects, allowing Seagreen to take advantage of the developments in wind turbine technology that have occurred since 2014 when consent was granted for the Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo wind farm projects.
“A maximum of 120 turbines would be developed across the Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo areas with a potential capacity of approximately 1,500MW.
“Work is under way to develop a socio-economic impact report.”
Seagreen say the term of the site lease with the Crown Estate will last 50 years, with the operational lifetime of the project expected to be 25 years.
The proposed 1.5 GW project will be conducted in three phases and will look to fit jacket and monopile structures.
Fabrice Leveque, senior policy manager at Scottish Renewables, said: “Since Seagreen received initial consent in 2014, the offshore wind industry has continued to grow apace, slashing costs and developing even more advanced technologies.
“It makes sense, then, that Seagreen has chosen to take advantage of this to maximise the project’s potential.”
“Large offshore wind projects like Seagreen are incredibly important to help Scotland cut its carbon emissions by generating clean, affordable, homegrown power.”