Renewable Energy - Wind Energy

Offshore windfarms - guidance and advice

Scotland has experienced limited offshore windfarm development to date, with 1 commercial site in the Solway Firth (under construction), 2 demonstrator turbines in the Beatrice Field in the Moray Firth and plans for a further development in Aberdeen bay at an advanced stage. However, advances in turbine technology are enabling developers to explore increasingly deep waters and significant interest has been generated in response to the Crown Estate's launch of both the Round 3 offshore wind sites (2 on the east coast of Scotland) and a call for proposals within Scottish territorial waters (see details on Crown Estate website below).

We are starting to prepare for an expansion in offshore wind and will be developing further guidance for developers and their consultants during 2009 / 2010. In the meantime, the following sources of information should be referred to. At present, developers wishing to contact SNH to discuss proposals should contact Erica Knott: erica.knott@snh.gov.uk 01738 458674 in the first instance.

• SNH Policy on Marine Renewables
• SNH commissioned reserach on 'An assessment of the sensitivity and capacity of the
  Scottish seascape in relation to offshore windfarms' (2005)
• COWRIE, research on the impacts of offshore windfarms
• BWEA Offshore wind pages
• Crown Estate
• Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit
• Joint Nature Conservation Committee
• Guidance on European Designated sites
• Information on designated sites in Scotland