The developers of the planned Pentland floating offshore wind farm have unveiled plans to reduce the area where turbines can be deployed by 50% following ongoing stakeholder engagement and consultations with the local Caithness community in Scotland.
The decision comes ahead of the development’s consent application submission to Marine Scotland later in the summer.
Copenhagen Offshore Partners is leading development, with the project owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Hexicon.
Pentland project director Richard Copeland said: “Following consultation events held in May, it was clear the key concerns identified were around any visual impacts of the project.
“We’ve taken this feedback on board and following progression of our environmental impact assessment and survey and design work, we’ve addressed this and will reduce the overall project area by half and the maximum number of turbines present from ten to seven.
“These changes will mean the turbines are more compact, reducing the spread of turbines from views along the coastline.
“The reduction in the number of turbines is possible due to advancements in wind turbine generator technology which means with fewer turbines we can still deliver 100MW of clean energy, enough to power around 70,000 homes, 65% of those in the Highland Council area.
“The changes demonstrate our dedication to ensuring Pentland is developed in an environmentally sensitive way, remains considerate of the concerns of the community, and is complementary to our proposed community benefit fund which will help to ensure local residents benefit economically and socially from the project.”
A public information update will be published online on Monday 4 July to detail all changes.