Salamander Offshore Wind Farm, a project being developed by the Salamander Wind Project Company Limited, a joint venture between Ørsted, Simply Blue Group and Subsea7, was recently awarded Planning Permission in Principle for the onshore aspects of its proposed floating development, 35 kilometers off Peterhead on the east coast of Scotland.
A second application, to the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish government for the wind farm’s energy balancing infrastructure, includes battery storage that will help to balance the electricity grid, has now been validated and is progressing through assessment.
Salamander is also awaiting a decision from the Scottish government’s Marine Directorate on its Section 36 award for the offshore array and associated licenses.
This is a key step in the project’s timeline as the focus turns to the onshore elements of the development, which will generate enough green energy to power 100,000 Scottish homes once operational.
“We are incredibly proud to have secured an almost-unheard-of unanimous approval in record time, only seven months after submission,” said Hugh Yendole, Salamander project director.
“We have achieved a number of significant firsts with this consent, the first combined onshore substation and battery consent and the first consent of any of the innovation projects awarded exclusivity agreements under INTOG.
It’s a testament to the dedicated professionals in the Salamander project team that plotted the path to consent and delivered one of, if not the best onshore consent applications that I have seen. The Planning Committee agreed.”
The Salamander Offshore Wind Farm was a successful Innovation bidder in Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas leasing round, signing an exclusivity agreement for a seabed lease in May 2023.
The INTOG round awarded Exclusivity Agreements for seabed leases for two types of projects – small scale floating wind innovation projects of up to 100 MW, and larger projects aiming to decarbonize oil and gas infrastructure.
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