Mainstream has been cleared to deploy 7MW hardware at the troubled 448MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm in Scotland.
Ministers have signed off on upgraded Siemens turbines, which will lead to deployment of 64 machines rather than the originally planned 75.
The decision comes after the project was stripped of its Contract for Difference, a move currently being fought by the developer.
The refreshed planning permission allows for the higher capacity machines as well as a boost in hub heights from 107.5 to 115 metres above sea level.
Turbine platforms will also be lifted to 21 metres above the waves, from 18 metres previously. Ministers also cleared “consequential variations to the wind turbine rotation speed and range of speeds at blade tip”.
No timetable has been given for the ongoing arbitration process at Neart. It was originally to have come online before the end of the decade.
Image: 7MW machines are clear to go at troubled Neart (Siemens)
Small joy for troubled Neart
Ministers approve 7MW hardware upgrade at Scottish offshore project
By EBS