Permissions in place for Moray West offshore wind farm
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AN offshore wind farm in the Moray Firth is in line to bid for an energy contract this year after gaining consents for its proposed scheme.
Moray West welcomed the Scottish Government's award of marine consent for the 800MW farm in June.
It comes as construction begins on the adjacent Moray East project, which won its Contract for Difference (CfD) award in 2017, and consists of 100 turbines each with a 9.5MW capacity.
Planning permissions for the associated onshore electricity transmission infrastructure for Moray West were granted earlier this year, meaning the latest award paves the way for the wind farm to bid for its own CfD in the next round, which is due to take place this summer.
Dan Finch, director of Moray West, said: “This is one of the most significant pre-construction milestones in the development of any project, and I would like to thank all of the communities, individuals and organisations who have engaged with us as part of the process, allowing us to secure a consent within the challenging CfD timescale.
“Moray West follows hot on the heels of Moray East, which is currently under construction and will supply power to the grid at less than half the price of offshore wind farms installed to date. Moray West is a vital part of the pipeline of projects necessary to support investment in the UK supply chain, making it competitive on a global basis.
“We look forward to working with the local economy as we enter the auction which will establish Moray West as the next high-capacity, low-cost, low-carbon generation project in Scotland. The project will also be a major step towards the strengthened target in the revised Scottish Climate Change Bill of net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.”
Subject to a CfD award, Moray West is expected to begin construction in 2022 and will consist of up to 85 turbines with a rotor diameter of up to 250m. It will be situated approximately 22km off the Caithness coast in the Outer Moray Firth.
The Moray West project company is a joint venture owned by EDP Renewables (66 per cent) and ENGIE (33 per cent).
