Planning permission in principle has been awarded to the onshore aspects of the 100MW Salamander floating wind farm in Scotland.
A joint venture between Orsted, Simply Blue Group and Subsea7 is developing the project to be located 35 km off Peterhead on the east coast of Scotland.
The submission was made to Aberdeenshire Council for the onshore substation (image of Scotstown Beach where infrastructure will be located but invisible once installed) and associated infrastructure in August 2024 under the Town and Country Planning Act (Scotland) 1997.
A second application, to the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish Government for the wind farm’s energy balancing infrastructure includes a battery storage that will help to balance the electricity grid, has now been validated and is progressing through assessment.
Salamander is also awaiting a decision from the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate on the Section 36 award for the offshore array and associated licenses.
Hugh Yendole, Project Director for Salamander, said: “We are incredibly proud to have secured an almost-unheard-of unanimous approval in record time – only 7 months after submission.
“We have achieved a number of significant ‘firsts’ with this consent – the first combined onshore substation and battery consent and the first consent of any of the innovation projects awarded exclusivity agreements under INTOG.
“It is also worth noting that the joint venture team that delivered this consent did so under somewhat challenging conditions, especially differentiating Salamander’s low-impact grid connection from the profusion of GW-scale infrastructure that is planned.
“It’s a testament to the dedicated professionals in the Salamander project team that plotted the path to consent and delivered one of -if not- the best onshore consent applications that I have seen. The Planning Committee agreed.”
The Salamander Offshore Wind Farm was a successful Innovation bidder in Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round, signing an Exclusivity Agreement for a seabed lease in May 2023.