Northumberland County Council has granted outline planning permission for the Berwick Bank offshore wind project’s onshore transmission infrastructure and grid connection.
The decision by Northumberland County Council approves the onshore export cables, converter station, and associated grid connections for the Cambois connection point, which will handle a large proportion of the 4.1 GW Berwick Bank’s capacity, connecting near Blyth, Northumberland.
The project has a second onshore connection point at Branxton in East Lothian, which was granted planning permission in December 2023.
The decision to approve the onshore scheme is the next step for SSE Renewables’ offshore wind farm, said the developer. The project is now awaiting approval of a Section 36 application by Scottish Government ministers for the offshore aspects of Berwick Bank.
“This consent can be added to the approval of onshore infrastructure in East Lothian. Therefore we know we can plug in what will be the largest single offshore wind farm in the world. We now need Scottish Government to approve the Section 36 application and allow us to power it up”, said Alex Meredith , Project Director.
If granted and fully delivered, the project would increase Scotland’s overall renewable energy capacity in operation today by nearly 30 per cent and be capable of generating enough electricity to power more than six million homes annually.
Set to be located 39 kilometres off the East Lothian coast in Scotland, the 4.1 GW Berwick Bank is the largest offshore wind farm planning application to be submitted in the UK and one of the largest offshore opportunities in the world currently in development, said SSE Renewables.
The developer is targeting a final investment decision on the project in 2026.
If consented for delivery, the project could enter the next round of the UK’s renewable energy auctions, Allocation Round 7 (AR7), having already missed out on the last.