Planning and Consent

Offshore consent and onshore planning

Prior to the project progressing to the build phase, Buchan Offshore Wind must first undergo a rigorous consenting process with environmental and planning assessments. Marine licenses and a Section 36 licence will be secured through Scottish Ministers following advice from the government’s Marine Directorate - Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT), whilst onshore planning consent is the responsibility of Aberdeenshire Council.

We have now submitted both our offshore consent and onshore planning applications.

Offshore consent

Our offshore consent application to MD-LOT includes applications for consent under the Electricity Act 1989 and marine licence applications under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Accompanying these is an extensive suite of assessments based on both desk-based and survey data collected and analysed over the past three and a half years.

Our full application and supporting documentation can be viewed here.

Our EIA public notice can be viewed here.

Onshore planning

Our onshore planning application to Aberdeenshire Council is for the onshore infrastructure required to connect our energy project to the electricity grid.

The application provides detail of the proposed onshore electrical infrastructure which will connect to the existing transmission network at Peterhead substation. The works includes a cable landfall on the Aberdeenshire coast near Rattray Head and an underground cable route which will extend around 20 km south to the project substation on a site close to the existing Peterhead Substation.

In preparing our applications, the Buchan Offshore Wind project team hosted nine public events, engaging with residents across Aberdeenshire, as well as meeting with businesses and organisations across the region.

These events provided vital opportunities for local communities to contribute to the project’s applications, to ensure they reflect regional priorities and deliver long-term social and environmental benefits.

Our full onshore application and supporting documentation can be viewed here.

Next steps

Once these important consents have been secured, our next steps will be to compete in a future Contract for Difference auction round, with construction expected to commence later this decade and first power in the 2030s.