The developers of the 1GW Buchan Offshore Wind project in Scotland are holding a third round of consultations on the floating wind scheme.
The Buchan Offshore Wind farm is being developed by BayWa r.e, Elicio and BW Ideol, around 75 km northeast of Fraserburgh, and will comprise up to 70 turbines and will deliver enough green energy to power more than a million homes.
Its development could see more than £1.4bn invested in the UK’s manufacturing sector and supply chain, with around 2,800 jobs in Scotland at the peak of construction and around 400 ongoing jobs during operation.
Construction could commence as early as 2029 with first power by 2033.
The wind farm’s export cable is planned to come ashore south of Rattray Head, and underground cables would transport the energy to a new project substation close to Peterhead Substation, which is operated by SSEN, where it would connect into the electricity transmission network.
Ian Simms, head of consents for the project, said: “This is our third round of public consultation events, which commenced in 2023 and have enabled us to hear the views of local people across a range of topics including design, interaction with existing uses of the land and sea, and how the local area could benefit from the project.
“Feedback received has enabled us to progress our plans and has informed our preferred landfall point, the onshore cable route, the onshore substation site, and our planned offshore scheme.
“In this time our project team has also completed our offshore surveys and submitted both offshore and onshore scoping reports to the Scottish Government and to Aberdeenshire Council.
“This third round of events will allow us to share our latest proposals prior to us submitting our onshore planning application to Aberdeenshire Council later this year.
“We are also sharing details of our proposed offshore development, for which an application will be submitted to the Marine Directorate in the summer.
“We’d be delighted to see as many people as possible attend these events.”
Consultation materials and feedback forms will also be available on the project website from Monday 5th May to Friday 30th May 2025, when the consultation period concludes.
Buchan Offshore Wind is already backing a number of local community projects and initiatives, including its partnership with Peterhead FC’s Community Foundation which supports the employment of coach Danny Strachan to help local children with education, health and wellbeing.
It is also sponsoring expansion of the University of the Highlands and Islands STEM programme to provide extra science, technology, engineering and maths activities in 31 primary schools across north Aberdeenshire, including Fraserburgh and Peterhead.
Buchan has also supported locally led beach cleaning events, has sponsored both the Best of Buchan Awards and the Peterhead Prison Museum in recent years and is working with local ports including Fraserburgh Harbour and the Port of Peterhead to help understand how the local area could benefit from the longer-term opportunities associated with the 35 year operation and maintenance phase of the project.