Seagreen 1A Onshore Plans Move Forward

East Lothian Council planning officers have recommended for approval the Seagreen 1A onshore proposals at Cockenzie.

The applications were submitted earlier this year to East Lothian Council for onshore works and Marine Scotland for offshore works. No local representations had been received against the plans, the project’s developer said.

The project infrastructure is located in the Energy Zone of the former Cockenzie power station site in Scotland. The Seagreen 1A team aims to position the substation next to the existing ScottishPower building.

Seagreen 1A Limited plans to proceed further with full consultation on the design of the building through a detailed planning application which will be expected at the end of 2021.

Local communities will be involved from the beginning with their suggestions when it comes to the design and appearance of the building, the developers said. The team will also hold Meet the Developer events in East Lothian to present to local businesses the opportunities connected to the project.

 ”We welcome the decision by councilors to support the Seagreen 1A onshore proposals. We have worked extremely hard to bring forward this proposal and we would like to thank the local community and consultees for their time and input into the project to date,” said Michael Walker, Lead Consents Manager for Seagreen.

Seagreen 1A is part of a larger 1.5 GW Seagreen 1 project, situated 27km off the Angus coastline and 66km off the East Lothian coastline.

Seagreen 1 is an offshore wind farm operated by Seagreen Wind Energy Ltd (SWEL) which is owned by SSE Renewables and Total.

Developers have secured a grid connection for 114 of the 150 consented turbines and now they are seeking grid connection for the remaining 36 turbines at Seagreen 1A.

In October 2019 the application was forwarded to National Grid for a grid connection which was followed by National Grid’s offer to connect into the existing ScottishPower substation at Cockenzie. The Seagreen 1A accepted the offer.

The proposed electricity transmission infrastructure at Cockenzie will be comprised of underground electricity cables, a new substation, and associated temporary and permanent ancillary works.