Four new offshore wind farms have been given development consent by Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing, with thousands of jobs set to be created during construction.
The farms, off Scotland’s east coast in the Forth and Tay region, are expected to be capable of generating up to 2.284 GW of electricity, which could provide enough energy to power more than 1.4 million homes.
The four developments to have received approval are Neart Na Gaoithe, Inch Cape Offshore Limited, Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo.
Mr Ewing said: “These wind farms alone could generate a combined gross value added of between £314M and £1.2Bn in Scotland over their lifetime and generate between 2,567 and 13,612 jobs within Scotland during the construction period.”
Neart na Gaoithe will have around 75 wind turbines, with a generating capacity of up to 450 MW. It will be located 15.5 km east of Fife Ness coastline and could power over 288,400 homes.
The Alpha and Bravo Seagreen developments, 27-38km east of the Angus coastline, will consist of up to 150 wind turbines combined. Together they will have a generating capacity of around 1050 MW, to power 670,000 homes.
The Inch Cape development is expected to have 110 turbines and a generating capacity of up to 784 MW. It will be 15-22km east of the Angus coastline and could power 500,000 homes.
It is estimated that combined these wind farms will produce carbon savings of 135 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over their lifetime.
Mr Ewing said: “Renewable energy is extremely valuable to Scotland’s economy, to reducing our carbon emissions and in providing low carbon energy supplies as well as jobs and long term investment.”
Development consents have been granted subject to strict conditions which will mitigate and monitor potential impacts including those in relation to birds and other environmental considerations.
