August 30, 2012
Scotland

Application for world’s biggest offshore wind farm lodged with Scottish Government

www.scotsman.com 30 August 2012

Plans to develop the world’s biggest offshore wind farm off the Scottish coast took a major step forward yesterday with an application being submitted to the Scottish Government.

A total of 339 turbines – some reaching 670ft above sea level in the Moray Firth – could be producing electricity for up to a million homes if the proposal by energy firm Moray Offshore Renewables Limited (Morl) is approved.

The company claims the £4.5billion project, 13 miles off the Caithness coast, could create 1,400 jobs in the construction phase, while another 300 workers could be employed during the operation of the mega windfarm.

It would also provide a major boost to the Scottish Government’s target of generating 100 per cent of the country’s electricity demand from renewables by the end of the decade.

However, the plans have met with vociferous objections from anti-wind farm campaigners.

Stuart Young, chairman of Caithness Windfarm Information Forum, said: “They are going to be in people’s eyes and in their windows.

“It will be inescapable.”

Morl is a joint venture between a Spanish/Portuguese company, EDP Renewables, and Spanish oil and gas firm Repsol Nuevas Energias UK.

The international company said the investment was a sign of confidence in Scotland as a place to invest in the offshore renewables market.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/30/application-for-worlds-biggest-offshore-wind-farm-lodged-with-scottish-government/