Orkney Island Council’s Development and Infrastructure Committee has given its backing to the 2000MW West of Orkney wind farm’s offshore plans.
The council considered the project’s offshore plans, which contain detailed information on how the wind farm will be constructed, including the proposed location of turbines and cable routes, and includes a comprehensive suite of environmental assessments based on survey data collected over two and a half years.
The final decision on the offshore consent will be made by Scottish Ministers following recommendations by the Marine Directorate Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) and taking into account comments made by statutory consultees, including Orkney Islands Council.
The West of Orkney wind farm will have up to 125 turbines on fixed foundations and aims to deliver first power in 2029. The project will be located 30km west of the Orkney Mainland and 25km north of the Sutherland coast.
It is being developed by a joint venture comprising Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and Renewable Infrastructure Development Group (RIDG).
Commenting on the council’s backing, West of Orkney Windfarm Development Manager Jack Farnham said: “We welcome this positive support from Orkney Islands Council. We have been working closely with the community and businesses in Orkney for a number of years to ensure our ambitious project will bring positive, long-term benefits to Orkney, Caithness and Sutherland and we are extremely grateful to the officials and elected representatives of the council for their endorsement of our detailed plans.
“The Scottish Government has a stated ambition to deploy 8-11GW of offshore wind in Scottish waters by 2030. As the first ScotWind project to enter the planning process, securing timely offshore consent from the Scottish Government and onshore planning permission from The Highland Council will be critical if Scotland is to meet this target, which will unlock significant inward investment and with it economic and social benefits to the far north,” Farnham concluded.