The applications outline Salamander’s plans for the onshore components of its proposed development. The first submission has been made to Aberdeenshire Council for the onshore substation and associated infrastructure and has been accepted. The second is to the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish Government for the wind farm’s energy balancing infrastructure, which includes battery storage that will help to balance the electricity grid.
This is a key step in the project’s timeline as the focus turn to the onshore elements of the development, which will generate enough green energy to power 100,000 Scottish homes if permitted.
Hugh Yendole, Project Director for Salamander, said: “This project will generate a huge amount of energy for the country and presents key benefits to those in the local community and the supply chain.
“The opportunity is clear. The Scottish Government has the power to unlock the potential capability of floating offshore wind in our country and support Scotland becoming the global leader in floating offshore wind.
“The onshore applications present our plans for the onshore facilities required for our project. Both are key areas of our development and support our vision for green energy. At each stage, we have encouraged and incorporated feedback from our stakeholders, and we will continue to work with them throughout the approval process.”
These applications follow on from the offshore consent applications that were submitted in April of this year, which outlined the requirements for the offshore elements of the 100 MW project.
The Salamander project was a successful Innovation bidder in Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round, signing an Exclusivity Agreement for a seabed lease in May last year. The INTOG round awarded Exclusivity Agreements to two types of projects—small scale innovation projects of less than 100 MW, and larger projects aiming to decarbonize oil and gas infrastructure. Salamander bid for and won an Exclusivity Agreement under the innovation category.
If granted consent by the Scottish Government and Local Authorities, Salamander will give the Scottish floating wind supply chain a major early capability development opportunity, supporting its scale-up ahead of the pipeline of projects leased under the ScotWind and INTOG seabed leasing rounds.
