THE world’s largest offshore wind farm is to be built 38km east of the Scottish Borders coastline, following the project securing Scottish Government consent.
The Section 36 consent determination by Scottish ministers approves the project’s main offshore wind farm array in the outer Firth of Forth off the East Lothian coast – with 9,300 jobs set to be created at peak construction.
The decision represents the last major consent necessary for the project to proceed and is the culmination of more than a decade of development work by SSE Renewables on the project’s design.
Delivery will now be subject to SSE securing a contract for new low-carbon offshore wind power under the UK’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, as well as reaching a final investment decision.
If fully delivered, Berwick Bank would become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, capable of generating enough clean energy to power more than six million homes annually.
SSE said Berwick Bank has the potential to create 9,300 direct, indirect and induced jobs in the UK at peak construction – with around 4,650 of these jobs in Scotland. Over the project’s expected lifetime, it is estimated Berwick Bank could inject £8.3 billion of value into the UK economy.
Stephen Wheeler, MD of SSE Renewables, said, “The Scottish Government’s decision to grant a consent order for Berwick Bank Offshore Wind Farm is hugely welcome. At over 4GW of potential capacity, Berwick Bank can play a pivotal role in meeting the mission of Clean Power 2030 for the UK and achieving Scotland’s decarbonisation and climate action goals.
“As the UK’s clean energy champion, SSE now looks forward to the UK Government delivering the most ambitious CfD scheme yet through the upcoming AR7 auction round. Berwick Bank has the potential to rapidly scale-up Scotland’s operational renewable energy capacity and can accelerate the delivery of homegrown, affordable and secure clean energy to UK consumers from Scottish offshore wind, helping meet the UK’s clean power ambition by 2030.”
