A consent application has been submitted to the Scottish Government for the 3600MW Ossian floating wind project’s offshore array.
The proposed Ossian project is being co-developed off the East Coast of Scotland by SSE Renewables, Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
Once operational, Ossian would be capable of generating enough clean, renewable energy to power up to six million homes annually.
Extensive consultation and investigation work has taken place over the past three years to assess the project’s 858km2 site, which sits 84km off the Aberdeenshire coast.
Ossian’s development lead, Rich Morris said: “We have submitted a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment report to the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate, and we’re committed to continuing engagement with the statutory consultees and wider stakeholder community.
“We are confident this submission will support the timely delivery of the UK’s largest floating offshore wind farm ensuring Ossian is ready to take full advantage of ongoing grid reforms and National Grid ESO’s move to a ‘first ready, first connected’ model.
“We have worked hard to reach this significant milestone which is crucial in paving the way for a decarbonised future and supporting the Scottish and UK governments’ net zero targets.”
Ossian has consulted with over 30 organisations including regulatory and industry bodies across nature conservation, fisheries, aviation and shipping and navigation, to ensure the application is reflective of their views.
Extensive surveys have also gathered enormous amounts of key data relating to the wind farm array, according to the partners.
This includes Ossian’s collaboration with other ScotWind developers to document the habits of bird populations in the wider North Sea region.
The survey involved four aircraft flying simultaneously once a month to collect high-definition images across an 11,550km2 area in the North Sea and took 690 hours to complete.
In November last year, Ossian also became the first ScotWind floating offshore wind farm to complete essential geotechnical surveys.
Earlier this year, a year-long metocean data gathering campaign collecting information relating to wave height, currents, tides, and sediment movements was concluded.