Moray Offshore Renewables Limited (MORL) and the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL) will together be the world’s third largest offshore wind farm, with up to 326 turbines.
The developments, sited off the Caithness coast, should have the capacity to generate up to 1,866MW of electricity, enough to power more than a million homes.
The consents are granted subject to conditions designed to mitigate and monitor environmental impacts. Among the conditions attached, the developers have to undertake local, regional, and strategic bird monitoring.
Energy minister Fergus Ewing said: “Scotland has the potential to lead the development of an exciting, new renewables industry as offshore wind moves into deeper waters. Offshore renewables represent a huge opportunity for Scotland; an opportunity to build up new industries and to deliver on our ambitious renewable energy and carbon reduction targets.
“These wind farms alone could generate gross value worth up to £2.5 billion over their lifetime and generate up to 4,600 jobs during peak construction and up to 580 once in operation.
“Offshore wind has been delayed by the process of the UK government’s electricity market reform, but these two consents today offer tangible progress towards real investment opportunity in Scotland.
“The Scottish government is committed to the successful and sustainable development of an offshore wind sector, which could lead to a potential inward investment of £30bn and support up to 28,000 direct jobs and a further 20,000 indirect jobs, generating up to £7.1bn for the Scottish economy. As this industry develops, our enterprise agencies are working to secure supply chain development for Scotland.”
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