Buchan Offshore Wind, a consortium comprising BayWa r.e., Elicio, and BW Ideol, has submitted the Offshore Scoping Report for the 1 GW Buchan floating offshore wind farm to the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate. This represents the project’s first major step within the consenting process, the consortium says.
The report contains project details and the approach to environmental impact assessment (EIA), and its filing will soon be followed by public exhibitions, where interested parties will be able to learn more about the project and submit their feedback.
“This is another important step forward for Buchan Offshore Wind, which is expected to be one of the world’s first commercial-scale floating offshore wind farms when built”, said Alasdair MacLeod , Project Director at Buchan Offshore Wind.
Last year, the developers selected Natural Power to lead the EIA for the Buchan project.
This summer, the consortium awarded contracts to Copper Consultancy to support onshore and offshore stakeholder engagement and consultation, another one to Natural Power to lead the onshore stakeholder engagement and EIA in parallel with their ongoing offshore work, and to Blackhall & Powis for property support, including securing land rights for the substation and onshore cabling, after having already delivered fishery liaison and early land assembly support.
The Buchan floating wind farm site is located off the northeast coast of Scotland, 75 kilometres northeast of Fraserburgh on the Aberdeenshire Coast.
The project will use BW Ideol’s Damping Pool floating foundations, which are designed to optimise the performance of floating wind turbines, even in extreme conditions, according to the company.