Consultations launched for offshore wind farms

Monitoring work began at the Broadshore and Bellrock Floating Offshore Wind sites last April.

A series of key consultations has been launched for the BlueFloat | Renantis Partnership’s Scottish offshore wind farms.

A scoping request and Habitats Regulations Assessment screening report has been submitted to the Marine Directorate for the Broadshore Hub Wind Farm Development Areas, covering the Broadshore, Sinclair and Scaraben offshore wind farms, and a series of consultation events are being held for the Broadshore Hub and the Bellrock project.

Located 47 km north of Fraserburgh, the Broadshore Hub, at 1.1 GW capacity, will be capable of producing enough clean energy to power over 1 million homes. The Bellrock Offshore Wind Farm is located 120 km east of Stonehaven and at 1.2 GW in capacity will be capable of producing enough green energy to power over 1.1 million homes.

These wind farms could play a significant role in achieving Scotland’s net zero targets, generating cleaner, home-grown electricity and providing energy security for future generations.

The scoping request seeks an opinion from the Scottish Ministers on the scope and detail to be provided in the Broadshore Hub’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report, whilst the Habitats Regulations Assessment screening report provides information on its potential impact on European sites of nature conservation importance.

A series of public consultation events are also being held by the Broadshore Hub and Bellrock project. These events will be an opportunity to meet the development team and find out more about the projects, and will be held at the following venues and times:

Monday 5 February, 3 – 8pm – Crimond Community Hub, Logie Avenue West, Crimond, AB43 8QJ

Tuesday 6 February, 12 – 8pm – Fraserburgh Golf Club, Philorth Links, Fraserburgh, AB43 8TL

Wednesday 7 February, 12 – 8pm – Longside Football Social Club, Davidson Park, Station Road, Longside, AB42 4GR

Thursday 8 February, 12 – 8pm – Peterhead Football Club, Balmoor Terrace, Peterhead, AB42 1EQ

Friday 9 February, 10am – 1pm – MACBI Community Hub, Newlands Road, Mintlaw, AB42 5GP

A virtual consultation room will also be available online between Monday 5 and Friday 9 February 2024 at www.broadshorewind.co.uk and www.bellrockwind.co.uk

Brian McGrellis, Head of Consents and Land for the Broadshore Hub and Bellrock project said: “Stakeholder feedback provided to the Marine Directorate will allow Scottish Ministers to adopt the most robust scoping opinion possible and inform important aspects of the Broadshore Hub’s EIA, which in turn will improve the quality of the EIA. We very much appreciate stakeholders taking time to review the scoping report and screening report and submitting comments to the Marine Directorate.

“Whilst these projects are at an early stage of development, our consultation events are an opportunity for local communities and stakeholders to meet our development team, find out more about our projects, and importantly provide feedback which can help shape our projects going forward.”