The joint venture company developing a floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Scotland has reached a significant milestone by submitting planning applications for its onshore facilities.
Salamander Offshore Wind Farm is being developed by the Salamander Wind Project Company, a joint venture between Ørsted, Simply Blue Group, and Subsea7. The floating development is located 35km off Peterhead on the East coast of Scotland.
Salamander has submitted its first applications for planning consents for the onshore components of the proposed development.
The first submission made to Aberdeenshire Council for the onshore substation and associated infrastructure has been accepted. The second, to the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish government for the wind farm’s energy balancing infrastructure includes a battery storage that will help to balance the electricity grid,
This is a key step in the project’s timeline as the focus turns to the onshore elements of the development, which is claimed will generate enough green energy to power 100,000 Scottish homes if permitted.
Hugh Yendole, project director for Salamander, said: “This project will generate a huge amount of energy for the country and presents key benefits to those in the local community and the supply chain.
“The opportunity is clear. The Scottish government has the power to unlock the potential capability of floating offshore wind in our country and support Scotland becoming the global leader in floating offshore wind.
“The onshore applications present our plans for the onshore facilities required for our project. Both are key areas of our development and support our vision for green energy. At each stage we have encouraged and incorporated feedback from our stakeholders, and we will continue to work with them throughout the approval process.”
These applications follow on from the offshore consent applications that were submitted in April this year, which outlined the requirements for the offshore elements of the 100 MW project.
The Salamander project was a successful Innovation bidder in Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round, signing an Exclusivity Agreement for a seabed lease in May last year.
The INTOG round awarded Exclusivity Agreements to two types of projects – small scale innovation projects of less than 100 MW, and larger projects aiming to decarbonise oil and gas infrastructure. Salamander bid for and won an Exclusivity Agreement under the innovation category.
If granted consent by Scottish government and local authorities, Salamander says it will give the Scottish floating wind supply chain a major early capability development opportunity, supporting its scale-up ahead of the pipeline of projects leased under the ScotWind and INTOG seabed leasing rounds.
Read next: Consortium looks to pioneer low-carbon concrete technology
Are you a building professional? Sign up for a FREE MEMBERSHIP to upload news stories, post job vacancies, and connect with colleagues on our secure social feed.
