CAITHNESS could get a jobs boost from a £4.5 billion project to create the world’s biggest offshore wind farm.
That emerged at a public exhibition in Wick which was organised by Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd – the company which plans to install up to 300 turbines in water about 13 miles off Lybster.
MORL spokesman Craig Milroy said the company was to submit a planning application to the Scottish Government in July next year.
If it gets the go-ahead construction could get under way in 2015 and last for five years.
Mr Milroy said the development would create up to 1430 jobs during the construction phase and could benefit Caithness.
Between 130 and 280 staff would be needed to operate and run the wind farm.
“If we cannot deliver some form of economic development here with this project then you would have to think very carefully about what could,” he stated.
Mr Milroy explained the company was “hugely encouraged” by the response it has received from the Caithness Chamber of Commerce, Highland and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise to its plans.
He was pleased with the response to the exhibition from the public. “We have been quite busy and have found people to be supportive,” he added.
The plan was welcomed by the Caithness Chamber of Commerce. Chief executive Trudy Morris, said: “Caithness is well placed to service this development, in particular Wick harbour and airport which both sit north of the development.”
She pointed out that a survey vessel has already been operating from Wick while local company Energy Hunt is contracted to maintain a meteorological mast at the site.
“We believe the area’s highly skilled workforce and company expertise coupled with assets such as the harbours and airport all close at hand will prove to be of significant benefit to the developers,” she added.
MORL intends to instal the turbines in water up to 200 feet deep off the Caithness coast. The development is expected to generate 1,500MW of wind power with each turbine delivering up to seven megawatts. The turbines would be supported on either concrete base structures or by tubular steel jackets, using technology developed by the North Sea oil and gas industry.
The power would be collected by up to eight offshore electrical platforms before being sent ashore via a grid connection point at Peterhead power station.
If the project gets the go-ahead it would become the world’s biggest offshore wind farm. That title is currently held by Swedish energy company Vattenfall’s 300 megawatt development of 100 turbines, seven miles off Foreness Point in Thanet, Kent.
Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd was formed as a joint venture company – owned 67 per cent by EDP Renewables and 33 per cent by Repsol – with the aim of developing offshore wind generation in the outer Moray Firth. The company will have spent around £50 million on development costs by the time the planning application is lodged next summer.
EDP Renewables has its headquarters in Spain and designs, develops, manages and operates plants which generate electricity using renewable energy.
Repsol is a multinational company which operates in the hydrocarbons sector in over 30 countries. It employs 36,000 people and is one of the world’s 10 largest privately-owned oil companies.
