Onshore Scoping Report Filed for 1 GW Buchan Floating Wind Project

July 9, 2024, by Adnan Memija

Buchan Offshore Wind, a consortium comprising BayWa r.e., Elicio, and BW Ideol, has initiated the scoping process for its onshore grid infrastructure by submitting the Onshore Scoping Report to Aberdeenshire Council.

The Onshore Scoping Report contains details of the planned onshore elements and its approach to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), with stakeholders now invited to provide feedback on the surveys the project is planning to complete and the methodologies to be used.

The report outlines the floating wind project’s preferred export cable route, with the cable proposed to come ashore between Rattray Head and the St Fergus gas terminal.

It also identifies two potential locations for the wind farm’s onshore substation close to the existing SSEN Transmission substation to the southwest of Peterhead, where the project will connect to the national electricity transmission network.

The entire 21-kilometre route of the cable is planned to be underground.

“We have developed proposals that will minimise local impacts and fit with the existing energy infrastructure in the area. Submission of our Onshore Scoping Report is another important step forward for the project, which would, of course, make a meaningful contribution to Scottish and UK climate change and renewable energy targets,” said Ian Simms, Head of Consents of Buchan Offshore Wind.

The 1 GW Buchan floating offshore wind farm has already received its Offshore Scoping Opinion and its Habitats Regulation Assessment Screening Option and is working towards an application for consent in 2025.

The 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.