EDF Renewables UK, a joint venture between EDF Energy and EDF Renewables, has received consent from the Scottish Government for an improved design of its Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm.

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Image: EDF Renewables UK secures consent to build 450MW NnG offshore wind farm. Photo courtesy of andrew sim/Freeimages.com.

After receiving consent for the updated design, EDF Renewables UK will construct the offshore wind farm with fewer and higher capacity turbines.

The amount of electricity generated will be sufficient to be supplied to nearly 375,000 Scottish homes, while avoiding more than 640,000 tonnes of CO2 and 15,000 tonnes of SO2 emissions per year.

The company stated that the original consent for the wind farm, to be located in the Firth of Forth 15.5km off the east coast of Scotland, was for a maximum of 75 turbines.

The new design allows EDF Renewables UK to reduce the number of turbines to 54, with a maximum of 208m of tip height above sea level. The hub height of the turbines is expected to be nearly 126m. The new design of the project will use the latest advancements in offshore wind technology.

NnG wind farm, which will be built with a total investment of around £1.8bn, will be spread across in an area of about 105km2. The company expects the wind farm to begin operations by 2023.

EDF Renewables UK NnG project director Matthias Haag said: “This is great news and we are excited to move forward delivering this milestone project for Scotland which will provide low carbon energy for decades to come.”

The company is one of the major renewable energy companies in the UK. It operates 786MW of wind farms and battery storage including 319 MW in Scotland. It has more than 2GW of renewable projects that are consented and are in development.

It stated that it will continue to grow its renewable business in Scotland which includes the 177MW Dorenell wind farm in Moray.