Scottish ministers have granted offshore consent for the 2-gigawatt (GW) West of Orkney offshore wind farm, marking a key milestone for the project and making it the first ScotWind development to receive both offshore consent and onshore planning permission.
The approval follows a positive recommendation from the Marine Directorate’s licensing operations team, the developers—TotalEnergies, Corio Generation, and RIDG—said on Thursday.
Located approximately 30 kilometres west of Orkney and 25 kilometres north of Sutherland, the fixed-bottom wind farm will comprise up to 125 turbines.
“The project has the potential to power two million homes,” said Stuart Macauley, project director for the West of Orkney Wind Farm. He added that the development is expected to drive “significant investment in local supply chains, ports, harbours and skilled jobs.
Macauley welcomed the decision and acknowledged the role of public bodies and partners in reaching the consent stage. “This consent shows that government and industry share a commitment to realising the benefits of offshore wind for Scotland,” he said.
He also noted that further clarity on transmission charges, electricity market reform, and future rounds of the UK’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme will be essential to secure a final investment decision.
The Highland Council granted in-principle consent for the project’s underground export cables and substation earlier this month, following its earlier position in March 2025 of raising no objection to the offshore application. Environmental and technical surveys for the project ran for over two and a half years.
The developers have launched several regional support programmes, including a £1 million R&D initiative with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), a £900,000 education project with the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), and a £125,000 supply chain readiness scheme in partnership with ORE Catapult.
The West of Orkney project was awarded a lease through Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind round in 2022 and aims to deliver first power later this decade.
