Seagreen Wind Energy Limited has issued an application to Marine Scotland to remove the capacity limit on the Section 36 consents and Marine Licences for the 525MW Seagreen Alpha and the 525MW Seagreen Bravo offshore wind farms.
According to Seagreen, none of the physical parameters of the developments would change and there would be no implications for the environmental effects of the project. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not required, the developer said.
Removing of the capacity limits would allow installation of higher capacity wind turbines under the existing consent parameters, Seagreen said.
The two wind farms would still comprise up to 75 wind turbines each, with a rotor diameter of up to 167 metres.
In late February, Seagreen announced plans to apply to Scottish Ministers to vary the existing Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo consents which would increase the combined capacity of the two projects from 1,050MW to 1,500MW.
The developer also said that the consent variation request would include the addition of monopile foundations to the existing consent for the use of jacket, gravity base or suction caisson foundations. However, the submitted request does not include any changes to the previously approved foundation types.
The two wind farms are located in the Firth of Forth Zone some 25km from the Angus coastline.
Seagreen Wind Energy Limited is a 50/50 joint venture partnership between SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy plc) and Fluor Limited, the UK operating arm of Fluor Corporation.