SSE Renewables has launched a consultation on the connection proposals for part of its major North Sea offshore wind development.
Residents, community groups and organisations are being encouraged to voice their opinions on plans to hook Seagreen 1A up to the national grid.
The virtual consultation went live earlier this week through the project website, with an online Q&A session due to be held on January 18.
The majority of the 150 turbines that will be built as part of the Seagreen project have a grid connection at Tealing in Angus.
Construction work on that part of the project got underway last year.
However, as there is restricted capacity available, National Grid provided a 360 megawatt (MW) connection offer at Cockenzie in East Lothian to link up 36 turbines.
The Seagreen 1A project comprises the infrastructure to connect the remaining turbines to the grid.
It consists of an offshore cable corridor from the wind farm to Cockenzie, as well as plans for landfall, the onshore cable corridor and the onshore substation.
The consultation is being undertaken ahead of SSE Renewables submitting applications to East Lothian Council and Marine Scotland for the onshore and offshore works.
Seagreen, which will be Scotland’s largest wind farm, will be able to generate 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of green energy from its base around 17 miles off the coast of Angus.
According to its developers, that’s the equivalent of removing almost a third of all of Scotland’s annual car emissions.
The £3 billion development is jointly owned by SSE Renewables (51%) and French oil major Total (49%).
Yesterday, MHI Vestas, which is supplying 114 of the projects 150 turbines, announced plans to cut more than 200 jobs.
Stephen McKeown, Seagreen 1A project manager, said: “Seagreen is Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm and the majority of the turbines are connecting into Tealing, Angus.
“Seagreen 1A is our plan to connect the remaining consented 36 offshore turbines to the grid at Cockenzie, East Lothian. The project will help drive a cleaner and more resilient Scottish and UK economy, and help us reach a net-zero carbon future.
“At this point in the pre-planning stage for a project we would traditionally hold village and town hall exhibitions but, due to Covid-19 and current advice regarding holding events in person, we have moved all our exhibition material online. We are also hosting live chat online events, where members of our project team will be available to answer questions on the plans.
“We have already engaged with some local community groups and we look forward to meeting local residents and other community groups, either online or in the future in person, to introduce ourselves and our plans in due course.”
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