Scottish Businesses Gather Behind Neart na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Project

A coalition of organisations that are supportive of the GBP 2 billion Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm project has joined forces to appeal to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Scotland to abandon further court action aimed at delaying the project.

29 companies, who will be behind the creation of many of the 600 jobs the offshore wind farm will create during construction and operation, have formed the NnG Offshore Wind Farm Coalition to campaign in support of the project, which is the only major infrastructure project that is ready to build in Scotland next year.

In its first collective action, members of the coalition have written an open letter to RSPB Scotland which states that the Scottish renewables supply chain can ill afford further delays in the project and appeals to the membership organisation to accept the recent decision of the Scottish courts.

On 19 July, 2017, the Inner House of the Scottish Court of Session rejected RSPB’s request for permission to appeal a previous decision by the Court of Session which gave NnG the green light. RSPB Scotland has given notice to the interested parties that they now plan to ask the Supreme Court in London directly for permission to lodge a further appeal. The project was originally consented by Scottish Ministers in 2014.

Mainstream Renewable Power plans to build the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe some 15.5km off the coast of Fife. The wind farm is one of four offshore wind projects in the outer Forth and Tay estuaries and the only one which has been awarded a Contract for Difference, meaning it is ready to start construction as early as next year, the coalition said.

The wind farm is forecast to create 500 direct jobs during construction and a further 100 direct, permanent jobs once built. Technological developments in wind turbine design in the three years since the wind farm was originally consented mean that the project now requires 60% fewer turbines than what was originally planned – to generate the same amount of renewable power.

”Hundreds of families in communities across the east of Scotland will be directly affected should this project not go ahead. Highly skilled jobs, vital apprenticeships and the socio-economic benefits of this project are all at risk for the hard-pressed communities within the region,” Alan Duncan of Scotia Supply Chain, and a spokesperson for the NnG Offshore Wind Farm Coalition, said.

“The project has sought to work with RSPB from day one and we are keen to continue to work together with them to increase industry understanding of how offshore wind assets and wildlife can successfully thrive together. We strongly believe that the output of the legal due process should be respected and we call on the RSPB to abandon their appeal to the Supreme Court and agree to work with us to deliver this exciting project of huge importance to Scotland.”