The Scottish Government has lodged an appeal to resurrect four offshore wind farms planned for Scotland, with a combined installed capacity of 2.3GW in the outer Forth and Tay estuaries.
Last month, the Court of Session in Edinburgh upheld an appeal by the Royal Society of Birds that the government had not given sufficient weight to the risks to marine birdlife in approving the plans for Mainstream Renewable Power’s 450MW Neart na Gaoithe, SDIC Power’s 784MW Inch Cape and SSE and Fluor’s 1050MW Seagreen wind farms.
The ‘smallest’ one of these wind farms – Mainstream’s – would be big enough to provide electricity for the whole of Edinburgh.
The decision cast a huge shadow over the industry and prompted a former Scottish Energy Minister to declare that offshore wind ‘was nearly dead’ as a result.
A spokesman for the Scot-Govt said: “Scottish Ministers have begun the process of appealing Lord Stewart’s judgements <in the Court of Session>. Due to on-going legal proceedings, we will not be commenting further on this case.
“In terms of our overall approach to renewables, Scottish Ministers remain absolutely committed to protecting our marine environment, while working to ensure we can realise the full potential of renewable energy projects across Scotland – including offshore wind.”
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