The proposed offshore wind farm sites have a combined capacity of 2470 MW and the adjacent Round 3 Zone a further 3700 MW. Award of consent for the individual projects could be granted as early as mid-2012 by the Scottish Government.
In order to reach this goal, major programmes of studies and surveys including; fisheries, shipping, birds, marine mammals and seabed conditions must be completed together with extensive consultations with the relevant stakeholders.
From north to south the four offshore wind farm projects inside Scottish territorial waters are:
- Inch Cape, a 905 MW project, awarded to RWE Npower Renewables and SeaEnergy Renewables (Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm);
- Bell Rock, 700 MW, Airtricity Holdings UK and Fluor;
- Neart na Gaoithe, 450 MW, Mainstream Renewable Power;
- Forth Array, 415 MW, Fred Olsen Renewables.
The offshore wind farms are proposed for a location at least 10 km from shore and in a total area covering approximately 475km2. The projects could be constructed and commissioned between 2014 and 2018.
The opportunity has come about through The Crown Estate’s award of Exclusivity Agreements in February this year to four energy companies to develop offshore wind farms within Scottish Territorial waters in the outer Firths of Forth and Tay.
The four companies have formed a working group to ensure that, subject to the outcome of the Strategic Environmental Assessment currently underway, their respective offshore wind farm proposals are developed in a manner that is coordinated and sensitive to the environmental and socio-economic features of the Scottish east coast.
