Two Firth of Forth Offshore Wind Farms Take Step Forward

Angus Council yesterday issued planning consent in principal for the onshore infrastructure required for Phase 1 of Seagreen Wind Energy’s Firth of Forth Offshore Wind Zone.

This includes 19km of onshore underground cables, which will transmit power from a landfall location at South Carnoustie on the Angus Coast to the existing electricity substation at Tealing, North of Dundee. The plans also include a new substation at Tealing to allow over 1 GW of power to connect to the National Grid system.

Seagreen Wind Energy Ltd, a joint venture between SSE Renewables and Flour Limited, proposes to build two offshore wind farms in the Firth of Forth Offshore Wind Zone.

Seagreen submitted applications to Marine Scotland in October 2012 for two separate offshore wind farms, Project Alpha and Project Bravo, located 27km and 38km respectively at their closest points from the Angus coastline. These Phase 1 wind farms would each have a maximum capacity of 525 Megawatts and accommodate up to 75 wind turbines.

Richard Escott, Head of Offshore Development at SSE Renewables, said: “We are delighted to see another significant step forward for Seagreen’s Phase 1 projects.

“As Scotland’s largest renewable energy project The Firth of Forth Zone has the potential to make a significant contribution to meeting Scotland and the UK’s renewable energy targets as well as bringing economic benefit to the Angus area and beyond.”

Graham Mason, Business Development Director Renewables at Fluor, said: “Seagreen has carried out an extensive amount of consultation and has listened to the input and concerns of the relevant stakeholders throughout the development of these proposals. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as we carry out further work to support our detailed application to Angus Council for the onshore assets associated with the offshore wind farm projects.”

The Firth of Forth Zone is part of The Crown Estate’s UK Round 3 Offshore Wind Development Programme.

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Press release, November 27, 2013; Image: seagreen