Plans for two wind farms in the Firth of Forth have taken a step forward after planning permission was granted for onshore underground cables and a new substation to get the electricity generated to the national grid.
Angus Council has issued planning consent in principal for 19km or underground cables to transmit power from a landfall location at South Carnoustie on the Angus Coast to the existing electricity substation at Tealing, North of Dundee.
The plans, brought forward by Seagreen Wind Energy Ltd, a joint venture between SSE Renewables and Flour Limited, also include a new substation at Tealing to allow over 1 Gigawatt of power to connect to the electricity network.
Richard Escott, Head of Offshore Development at SSE Renewables, said: “We are delighted to see another significant step forward for Seagreen’s Phase 1 projects.
“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 as well as bringing economic benefit to the Angus area and beyond.”
The Firth of Forth Zone is part of The Crown Estate’s UK Round 3 Offshore Wind Development Programme.
Seagreen submitted applications 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.