SSE Renewables plans 4.1GW super farm in the Firth of Forth

SSE Renewables recently announced the amalgamation of two of their proposed wind farm projects, the Berwick Bank and Marr Bank farms, off the east coast of Scotland. The new project, entitled Berwick Bank, would potentially deliver 4.1GW to the Scottish grid. Situated approximately 40km from the East Lothian coast, the project would deliver enough electricity to power almost double the number of private homes currently situated in Scotland via a connection in Braxton, East Lothian.

A full planning application will be submitted by SSE Renewables to the Scottish government during Q2 2022. If greenlighted the farm could begin operations as early as 2027. The Berwick Bank Project Director, Alex Meredith, said “By combining the two project proposals into a super project we believe we can deliver Berwick Bank Wind Farm – one of the world’s largest offshore wind opportunities – more quickly.”

The proposed farm would utilise the almost 10 years of analysis and project development work conducted for the previous projects to ensure a speedy realisation. The knowledge gathered from this work has already resulted in adjustments to the project to minimise the impact on marine wildlife.

If realised, Berwick Bank would singularly account for almost 40% of the Scottish government’s stated aim of 11GW of offshore wind power by 2030. With 307 turbines standing over 350m from sea level to blade tip and covering 1300 square kilometres, Berwick bank would be one of the biggest offshore wind farms in the world.

SSE’s stated aim is to utilise local suppliers wherever possible and use the project to generate hundreds of direct and indirect jobs for Scotland and the wider UK. “Berwick Bank represents a huge opportunity to secure a multi-billion-pound investment in the Scottish and UK supply chain, bringing a wealth of opportunities for businesses of all sizes and disciplines.”, said Alex Meredith. If SSE can keep their projected timeline, recruitment and procurement for the project would begin as early as Summer 2022.

As well as generating jobs, Alex Meredith believes the scale of the project can drive the Scottish and UK offshore industries as a whole. “Scotland has talked about leadership in the field, but this really would be world-leading… We’ve got all the Scotwind projects that are due to come forward but this project could ensure the supply chain is in place. It’s a big-scale opportunity to create a strong offshore renewables pipeline. That’s something we want to see.”

The Scottish government responded to the news through Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Climate Change Michael Matheson, “Decarbonising our energy demands is a vital component of our just transition to net-zero and our world-leading renewables sector will play a vital role in this. The continuing growth of offshore wind over the next decade will be crucial to meeting our incredibly stretching, near-term climate targets, and we will need to work innovatively, at pace and with agility to do so. I welcome this announcement from SSE Renewables which demonstrates their commitment to helping Scotland’s contribution to climate change within a generation.”

The Berwick Bank project once again shows the ambition of the UK to be a global leader in offshore wind.