Northumberland County Council has granted outline planning permission for the onshore transmission infrastructure and grid connection of SSE Renewables’ 4100MW Berwick Bank wind farm off the east coast of Scotland.
The project, located in the Outer Firth of Forth, will plug in a large proportion of its capacity at Cambois near Blyth, Northumberland, England.
The decision to approve the onshore scheme is the next step for the scheme, which is now awaiting approval of a Section 36 application by Holyrood ministers for the offshore aspects of the array.
Berwick Bank is vital to UK and Scottish government 2030 targets, said SSE. This was made clear by the NESO Clean Power 2030 report which shows the London’s Clean Power Mission can’t be achieved without urgent delivery of Berwick Bank’s scale.
If granted and fully delivered the project would increase Scotland’s overall renewable energy capacity in operation today by nearly 30% and be capable of generating enough electricity to power more than 6 million homes annually, added the developer.
SSE Renewables is targeting a final investment decision on the project in 2026.
Project director Alex Meredith said: “The decision by Northumberland County Council to approve the onshore infrastructure is a huge step forward for the project.
“This consent can be added to the approval of onshore infrastructure in East Lothian. Therefore we know we can plug in what will be the largest single offshore wind farm in the world.
“We now need the Scottish government to approve the Section 36 application and allow us to power it up.”
The developer said the Berwick Bank offshore application has been with Holyrood for 23 months – almost as long as it took SSE Renewables to build Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, the 1GW Seagreen array (pictured).
If consented, the project could enter the next round of the UK’s renewable energy auctions, Allocation Round 7 (AR7), having already missed out on the last.
Meredith added: “Berwick Bank will be crucial to achieving 2030 targets, tackling affordability and fighting climate change by getting us off fossil fuels, whilst providing nearly 10,000 jobs and over £8bn of investment in the UK.
“But if we are to stand any chance of achieving the Clean Power Mission by 2030 and grasping those opportunities it is vital we have a decision on our offshore application before the end of the year.
“It is time to move forward with this pivotal project to stimulate growth and accelerate decarbonisation of the UK.”
Set to be located 39km off the East Lothian coast in Scotland, it is the largest offshore wind farm planning application to be submitted in the UK and one of the largest offshore opportunities in the world currently in development, said SSE.
The decision by Northumberland County Council approves the project’s onshore export cables, converter station and associated grid connections for the Cambois connection point.
Berwick Bank has a second onshore connection point at Branxton in East Lothian which was granted planning permission in December 2023.