EDF gives go-ahead to 450MW offshore windfarm

EDF Renewables has given the go-ahead to the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore windfarm after tying down the necessary financing.

The windfarm, located in the Firth of Forth in Scotland, will feature 54 of Siemens Gamesa’s 8MW turbines and is scheduled for completion in 2023. The fabrication of components is now underway and offshore construction will begin in June 2020.

EDF Renewables has also announced that Irish energy company ESB will take a 50 per cent stake in the project, which it acquired from Mainstream Renewable Power in May 2018.

Matthieu Hue, chief executive of EDF Renewables UK, said: “These are hugely important milestones for the project, and a great credit to the EDF Renewables team.

“We are excited to get work under way with our new equity partner ESB, our contractors, and all Scottish companies and stakeholders participating in the project.

“The 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe project will play an important role in de-carbonising the UK electricity system and is a further example of EDF Renewables continuous investment and growth in Scotland.”

Neart na Gaoithe – Gaelic for “Strength of the Wind” – secured a 15-year agreement in the first competitive Contracts for Difference auction in 2015 at a strike price of £114.39 (2012 prices).

The Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) withdrew the subsidies for the project in 2016 after a legal challenge by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) prevented it from meeting the deadline for financial close.

Its planning permission was subsequently revoked when a court in Scotland ruled in favour of the RSPB, although this decision was later overturned by the same court following an appeal by Scottish ministers.

The developer at the time, Mainstream Renewable Power, launched a dispute against the LCCC’s decision. The contracts were reinstated in 2017 after an arbitration tribunal ruled in its favour.