Reaction to West of Orkney offshore wind farm reaching planning stage

03/10/2023
Nick Sharpe (Scottish Renewables)

THE WEST of Orkney offshore windfarm has reached a major milestone by becoming the first project from last year’s ScotWind Leasing process to submit its offshore consent applications to Scottish Ministers.

Responding, Nick Sharpe, Director of Communications at Scottish Renewables, said: 

“ScotWind is set to transform the energy landscape in Scotland, so it is encouraging to see the West of Orkney Wind Farm become the first project from last year’s leasing round to enter the consenting process.

“Plans are in place for over 27GW of new offshore wind capacity – equivalent to 13 more West of Orkney projects – to be built over the next decade, and obtaining consent is just one of the many steps each of those schemes will have to take before these wind farms can start powering our net-zero future.

“Consenting offshore wind farms is a complex process and the Scottish Government now needs to ensure its agencies have the right skills and capacity in place so that decisions can be made on this project, and others which follow, at the pace needed to tackle the climate emergency.”

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