Seagreen has submitted an application to Angus Council for consent for the onshore infrastructure required for Phase 1 of its Firth of Forth Offshore Wind Zone.
The application includes 19km of underground cables to transmit the power from a landfall location at the south of Carnoustie on the Angus Coast to the grid connection point at the existing electricity substation at Tealing, North of Dundee. The proposals also include a new substation at Tealing to allow over 1 Gigawatt of power to connect to the National Grid system. A statutory consultation period for the application runs from the 14th June to the 12th July 2013.
This follows applications submitted to Marine Scotland in October 2012 for two separate offshore wind farms, Project Alpha and Project Bravo, located 27km and 38km respectively at their closest points from the Angus coastline.
These Phase 1 wind farms would each have a maximum capacity of 525 Megawatts and accommodate up to 75 wind turbines.
Richard Escott, Head of Offshore Development at SSE Renewables, said: “It is great to see another very important milestone achieved with the submission of this onshore consent application for Phase 1. As Scotland’s largest renewable energy project The Firth of Forth Zone has the potential to make a significant contribution to meeting Scotland and the UK’s renewable energy targets.’’
Graham Mason, Business Development Director Renewables at Fluor, said: “This application comes after a significant amount of environmental study and detailed consultation with the relevant stakeholders who we will continue to work with as the application progresses.’’
“The Firth of Forth Zone has the potential to bring significant socio-economic benefits to the Angus area and beyond.”
Angus Council’s formal consultation period on the applications will run from 14th June 2013 until 12th July 2013. A copy of the applications and accompanying Environmental Statement are available to view at Seagreen (Waterloo Street, Glasgow), Angus Council (Market Street, Forfar). Representations can be made by post to Angus Planning Office, Planning and Transport Division, County Buildings, Market Street, Forfar, DD8 3LG.
Seagreen is developing the Firth of Forth Offshore Wind Zone in three phases. The total target zone capacity is 3.5 Gigawatts (GW) making it Scotland’s largest renewable energy project.