The consortium behind the West of Orkney Windfarm, comprising Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and Renewable Infrastructure Development Group (RIDG), has submitted offshore consent applications to Scottish Ministers for the 2 GW offshore wind farm, making this the first ScotWind project to apply for consent.

The documentation includes applications under the Electricity Act 1989 and marine licence applications under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, and accompanying assessments based on survey data collected over two and a half years, including the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report that has been managed through Xodus Group.

The project will submit a separate planning application to The Highland Council for the onshore proposals.

The developer highlighted that the applications for offshore consent were filed only 20 months after being awarded the site in Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind leasing round.