Wind farm off north coast hailed as 'major economic opportunity'
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Seabed survey work has been completed for a wind farm off the north coast that will be bigger than the Beatrice development if it goes ahead.
Those behind the proposed West of Orkney Windfarm say it represents "a major economic opportunity for Scotland and the UK".
The wind farm will consist of up to 125 fixed-bottom turbines on a site around 30km from Orkney and 25km from the north Sutherland coast.
It will have an expected capacity of 2GW, with first power scheduled for 2029. The existing 588MW Beatrice wind farm off the east coast of Caithness has 84 turbines.
This year's offshore geotechnical and geophysical survey campaigns will support the front-end engineering and design (FEED) of the project.
Last year, West of Orkney Windfarm secured the development rights to an area of seabed from Crown Estate Scotland in the ScotWind leasing process.
The wind farm is being developed by a joint venture comprising Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and Renewable Infrastructure Development Group.
The 2023 surveys followed last year's campaign which saw the completion of nearshore geophysical, offshore geophysical and geotechnical and onshore geotechnical surveys alongside ornithology and marine mammal studies.
It is expected that the developers will submit offshore and onshore consent applications to Scottish Government ministers and Highland Council respectively later this year.
Up to five export cables to Caithness are envisaged, with a grid connection coming ashore at a point to the west of Thurso and continuing to the substation at Spittal.
Project director Stephen Kerr said: “We are delighted the seabed survey work has been completed safely, on schedule and within budget.
“This project represents a major economic opportunity for Scotland and the UK, and the timely completion of this survey campaign means we can continue to advance our wind farm design and deepen our relationships with the supply chain companies and the ports and harbours which will be central to the delivery of this major infrastructure scheme in the years ahead.
“I’d like to thank the survey management team at TotalEnergies UK Offshore Wind Hub, our advisers OWC, and survey contractors Geoquip Marine and Gardline, who worked diligently through their campaigns to deliver excellent results.
“I would also like to thank the licensing team at Marine Scotland for their support, the Crown Estate Scotland and the local fishers, who have engaged positively with us throughout.”
The offshore geotechnical contractor was Geoquip Marine, using the vessel Dina Polaris operating out of Scrabster harbour. The total fieldwork duration was 65 vessel days, during which 23 composite sampling and testing boreholes were completed to depths between 10 and 90 metres below the seafloor.
The offshore geophysical survey contractor was Gardline, using the vessel Ocean Endeavour operating out of Aberdeen and the Port of Leith.
West of Orkney Windfarm is a premier partner of Caithness Chamber of Commerce.
