West of Orkney Windfarm gets offshore consent
The Scottish government has granted consent for the offshore plans for the 2-GW West of Orkney Windfarm.
It follows a recommendation by the government’s Marine Directorate Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT). This will be the first project under the ScotWind lease process to secure both onshore planning permission and offshore consent.
Co-developers are Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and Renewables Infrastructure Development Group.
The development, featuring up to 125 wind turbines on fixed foundations, will be constructed about 30 km west of the Orkney Islands and 25 km north of the Sutherland coast in mainland northern Scotland.
In June 2024, the Highland Council gave approval in principle for the project’s application for onshore planning permission, covering the underground cables and electrical infrastructure to connect the wind farm to the national transmission network in Caithness.
This March, the council indicated it would not object to the offshore planning application submitted to the government.
Various initiatives supported by the developers in the north of Scotland include an R&D program led by EMEC in Orkney and a "Fit 4 Renewables" scheme led by ORE Catapult.
The offshore consent submission was accompanied by various assessments based on the results of surveys compiled over two and a half years.
