Salamander offshore wind farm, a project being developed by a joint venture between Ørsted, Simply Blue Group and Subsea7, has been awarded planning permission in principle for the onshore aspects of its proposed floating wind development.
Located 35 km off Peterhead on the East Coast of Scotland, the proposed Salamander Offshore wind farm would have 100 MW capacity.
The consent submission was made to Aberdeenshire Council for the onshore substation and associated infrastructure in August 2024 under the Town and Country Planning Act (Scotland) 1997.
A second application, to the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish Government for the wind farm’s energy balancing infrastructure includes a battery storage that will help to balance the electricity grid, has now been validated and is progressing through assessment.
Salamander is also awaiting a decision from the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate on their Section 36 award for the offshore array and associated licenses.
This is a key step in the project’s timeline as the focus turns to the onshore elements of the development, which will generate enough green energy to power 100,000 Scottish homes once operational.
"We are incredibly proud to have secured an almost-unheard-of unanimous approval in record time - only 7 months after submission. We have achieved a number of significant 'firsts' with this consent - the first combined onshore substation and battery consent and the first consent of any of the innovation projects awarded exclusivity agreements under INTOG.
“It is also worth noting that the joint venture team that delivered this consent did so under somewhat challenging conditions, especially differentiating Salamander’s low-impact grid connection from the profusion of GW-scale infrastructure that is planned,” said Hugh Yendole, Project Director for Salamander.
The Salamander Offshore Wind Farm 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 2023.
The INTOG round awarded Exclusivity Agreements for seabed leases for two types of projects – small scale floating wind innovation projects of up to 100 MW, and larger projects aiming to decarbonize oil and gas infrastructure.
Salamander bid for and won an Exclusivity Agreement under the innovation category.