The developers of the Buchan offshore wind project have awarded a suite of new contracts worth more than £1.5m to a trio of Scottish businesses.
Secured as part of the ScotWind leasing round in early 2022, the Buchan floating wind scheme will be built in the NE8 lease area around 45 miles northeast of Fraserburgh, with a total capacity of around 1GW.
Joint venture partners include BayWa, Belgian operator and developer Elicio, and floating wind etchnology group BW Ideol.
The consortium behind Buchan, known as the Floating Energy Allyance, said on Wednesday it had recently placed three large advisory contracts, marking an “important step forward” in its development process and taking the total value of contracts awarded to date above £20m.
Communications agency Copper Consultancy secured an award to support onshore and offshore stakeholder engagement and consultation.
A second contract was won by Castle Douglas-headquartered Natural Power, who will lead the onshore project development and Environmental Impact Assessment in parallel with their ongoing offshore work.
Meanwhile, Blackhall & Powis will take on responsibility for property support, including securing land rights for the substation and onshore cabling, after having already successfully delivered fishery liaison and early land assembly support.
Buchan partners said the consultants had been selected on their experience and expertise in offshore wind projects and onshore grid connections, and their strong understanding of the Scottish renewables sector.
The awards signal the developers’ continued intention to work with businesses with a strong local presence in Scotland, they added.
Project director Alasdair MacLeod said: “The Buchan Offshore Wind project team continues to engage with National Grid’s Holistic Network Design process and are committed to rapidly progressing both onshore and offshore elements of the project.
“All three companies bring significant experience and capability to the project team, and we look forward to working with them all as we take the project through to the next stage of development.”
According to a recent presentation EIA scoping for the 60-turbine scheme is set to begin this summer 2023, with offshore consent submission due in 2025.
A full construction programme will then be defined once the project has confirmed its grid connection.
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