Planning permission in principle has been granted for the onshore components of the 100MW Salamander floating wind farm, located off the east coast of Scotland. The project, a joint venture between Orsted, Simply Blue Group, and Subsea7, is planned to be situated 35 km off Peterhead.
The approval pertains to the onshore substation and associated infrastructure, which were submitted to Aberdeenshire Council in August 2024 under the Town and Country Planning Act (Scotland) 1997. The substation will be located near Scotstown Beach, although the infrastructure will be largely invisible once installed.
Additionally, a second application for the energy balancing infrastructure of the wind farm, which includes battery storage to help balance the electricity grid, has been validated and is currently progressing through the assessment phase. This application was submitted to the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish Government.
The Salamander project is also awaiting a decision from the Scottish Government's Marine Directorate regarding the Section 36 award for the offshore array and associated licenses.
Hugh Yendole, Project Director for Salamander, expressed pride in the approval: “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.”
Yendole also highlighted the challenges faced during the process: “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. It's a testament to the dedicated professionals in the Salamander project team that plotted the path to consent and delivered one of -if not- the best onshore consent applications that I have seen. The Planning Committee agreed.”
The Salamander Offshore Wind Farm was a successful Innovation bidder in Crown Estate Scotland's Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round, securing an Exclusivity Agreement for a seabed lease in May 2023.
