On 19 March 2014, Scottish Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing, announced the formal consent to two adjacent offshore wind farm applications in the outer Moray Firth - Moray Offshore Renewables Limited (MORL) and the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL). The developments, sited off the Caithness coast, will be capable of generating up to 1,866 MW of electricity, enough to power over one million homes.
When constructed, MORL and BOWL will together be the world's third largest offshore wind farm, with up to 326 wind turbines after the planned South Korea Electric Power scheme off the south-west coast of the Korean peninsula and the Blekinge project in the Baltic Sea off Sweden.
These Moray Firth projects are expected to generate gross value worth up to £2.5bn over their lifetime and create up to 4,600 jobs during peak construction and up to 580 once in operation the Scottish Government said. The consents are subject to strict conditions, which include the need to monitor for impact on wildlife and comply with a number of plans such as the Environmental Management Plan and the Operation and Maintenance Programme to ensure effective mitigation takes place.
For the announcement click here
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