Stuart Macauley

The decision by Scottish Ministers, following a recommendation by the government’s Marine Directorate Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT), makes the West of Orkney Windfarm the first ScotWind project to secure both onshore planning permission and offshore consent.

The windfarm, which is being developed by a partnership of Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and Renewables Infrastructure Development Group, is to be located around 30km west of the Orkney Mainland and 25km north of the Sutherland coast with up to 125 turbines on fixed foundations.

Project director Stuart Macauley said: “The West of Orkney Windfarm has the potential to deliver enough renewable electricity to power around two million homes.

“Its construction would spark significant investment in Scotland’s supply chain, port and harbour infrastructure, and the skilled jobs that would follow.

“We’d like to thank the Scottish Government, their officials and all of the stakeholders and suppliers who have worked with us so proactively to make this happen. This underlines a clear commitment by industry and government to work together on growing an offshore wind industry in Scotland.

“Like many projects in Scotland and the UK, we and our investors are focused on working with government to achieve the certainty required on key regulatory areas such as transmission charging, electricity market reform and the rules for future CfD auction rounds. Gaining clarity on these points will be crucial for investors to fully understand the economic case for progressing into construction and operation.

“The UK Government has set out ambitious decarbonisation goals for 2030 and beyond, and our pioneering windfarm, backed by major international investors, can deliver jobs, inward investment and make a significant contribution to the energy transition in Scotland.”

The Highland Council approved in principle the project’s application for onshore planning permission – covering the underground cables and electrical infrastructure required to connect the windfarm to the national transmission network in Caithness – in June 2024.

In March of this year, the council indicated it would raise no objection to the offshore planning application submitted to Scottish ministers.

The developer has instigated and supported various initiatives in the north of Scotland, including a £1 million research and development programme being led by EMEC in Orkney, a £900,000 education initiative led by UHI, and a £125,000 Fit 4 Renewables scheme led by ORE Catapult.

The offshore consent submission included applications for consent under the Electricity Act 1989 and marine licence applications under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Accompanying these is an extensive suite of assessments based on survey data collected over two-and-a-half years.