Scotland approves massive wind farm

Formal consent for two offshore wind farms, which combined would be the third largest in the world, has been announced by Scottish Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing.

Located in the outer Moray Firth, north west of Inverness on the east coast of Scotland, Moray Offshore Renewables Limited (MORL) and the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL), will have up to 326 wind turbines between them.

The developments will be capable of generating up to 1,866MW of electricity – said to be enough to power over a million homes, and to be worth up to £2.5 billion to the Scottish economy.

The Scottish Government said the consents were granted subject to strict conditions which would mitigate and monitor a range of potential impacts, for example birds and other environmental considerations.

Ewing said, “The Scottish Government is committed to the successful and sustainable development of an offshore wind sector, which could lead to a potential inward investment of £30 billion (€35.96 billion), and support up to 28,000 direct jobs and a further 20,000 indirect jobs, generating up to £7.1 billion (€8.5 billion) for the Scottish economy.”

He added, “The Scottish Government wants to see the right developments in the right places, and Scottish planning policy is clear that the design and location of any onshore and offshore wind farm should reflect the scale and character of the landscape or seascape, and should be considered environmentally acceptable.”