Scottish Borders Council’s planning committee today approved plans for an operations and maintenance building at Eyemouth Harbour for the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm off east Scotland.
The planning permission is for a new, three storey, 1040 square metre main building and a two storey, 538 square metre storage warehouse.
Plans were submitted by Neart na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Limited, a joint venture of EDF Renewables and ESB, and Eyemouth Harbour Trust.
The O&M building, which is designed by Corstorphine and Wright Architects, will house the office, warehousing and staff welfare facilities required to support the servicing of NnG once the wind farm is operational.
Additional benefits of the O&M facility would be training, retraining and apprenticeship opportunities available to the residents of Eyemouth and the surrounding area.
Neart na Gaoithe project director Matthias Haag said: “Having worked so closely with the Eyemouth Harbour Trust on the details of this proposal I am very pleased that Scottish Borders Council has approved the plans for our O&M base at Eyemouth Harbour.
“We need an O&M base for the 25-year lifespan of NnG which brings with it fantastic socio-economic benefits for the town of Eyemouth and the local community.
“Today’s announcement is a significant next step towards NnG’s O&M facility being based in the town.”
Eyemouth Harbour Trust business manager Christine Bell said: “Today’s decision by SBC is warmly welcomed by Eyemouth Harbour Trust. We have been working closely with the NnG project team to achieve this goal.
“It’s another positive and significant step towards regeneration opportunities being realised in Eyemouth.”