Wind farm to power half a million homes
● Beatrice opens after spend of £2.5 billion and a decade of planning
Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, which will save eight million tonnes of carbon emissions over its lifetime and generate enough energy to power 450,000 homes, has been officially opened by The Duke of Rothesay.
The Beatrice wind farm located eight miles off the coast of Wick is the fourth largest in the world and the largest ever single private investment in Scotland at £2.5 billion. It has been in planning for a decade.
The farm was developed by Scottish-headquartered energy firm SSE Renewables in partnership with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Red Rock Power.
WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: “Scotland is already generating record amounts of power from renewable sources, helping us to avoid millions of tonnes of climate-wrecking carbon emissions every year. The addition of power from huge offshore wind farms such as Beatrice will help us to decarbonise even more of our economy, including our heating and transport sectors.” Construction of the wind farm – Scotland’s single largest source of renewable energy – has provided a £2.4bn economic boost to the UK, of which £1bn went directly to Scotland. Jim Smith, managing director of SSE Renewables said: “The UK has the biggest offshore wind industry in the world and this worldclass offshore project paves the way for future development in Scotland and the UK to help decarbonise our economy while boosting jobs and growth. Most importantly, Beatrice will save around eight million tonnes of harmful carbon emissions over its 25-year lifetime operation, making it one of the most significant contributions across the UK in combating climate change and meeting our net zero ambitions.”
SSE Renewables will operate the project, which will support up to 90 long-term jobs – from offshore technicians to office administrators – with the majority based in the rural community of Wick.
Beatrice will also benefit the local community to the tune of £34m over the lifetime of the wind farm.
Two Beatrice Community Benefit funds, totalling £6m, have been established to deliver sustainable investment in the local community including coastal towns and villages as well as the wider Highland and Moray areas.
Beatrice has paid a further £28m into a Coastal Community Fund, which will be delivered by the Scottish Government.
Islands and energy minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “At 588MW it is the largest offshore wind development in Scotland to date.”