Moray Firth
Ocean Winds has secured planning approval from Scottish ministers for the 2GW Caledonia wind farm in the Moray Firth.
The developer submitted separate applications for the 77-turbine Caledonia North and 78-turbine Caledonia South sites in November 2024.
The North and South Caledonia offshore windfarms, which will cover an area of 429km2, have been granted consents and marine licences by the Scottish Government.
The projects estimate they could generate enough electricity annually to power 2 million households.
Water depths of between 40-metres and 100-metres mean that most of the fixed bases are expected to be the same type of jackets deployed by Ocean Winds at its neighbouring 950MW Moray East.
In its latest Supply Chain Development Statement, Ocean Winds has committed to spend £1.7 bn in Scotland across the two projects.
The Caledonia South project is planning to use a mix of foundation technologies and will help advance Scotland’s position as a world-leader in floating wind.
Developer Ocean Winds must mitigate and minimise impacts to the environment and other sea users, including preparing a detailed seabird compensation plan outlining how adverse impacts on seabirds will be compensated for. These plans will need to be approved by Ministers ahead of Caledonia North and South proceeding.
Caledonia North is a fixed bottom offshore wind farm located in the outer Moray Firth, approximately 28km from the Wick coastline and 48km from the Banff coastline with an anticipated generating capacity of 1 Gigawatts, produced by up to 77 offshore wind turbine generators.
Caledonia South is a combined fixed bottom and floating offshore wind farm located in the outer Moray Firth, approximately 45km from the Wick coastline and 35km from the Banff coastline, with an anticipated generating capacity of 1 Gigawatts produced by up to 78 wind turbine generators (of which no more than 39 shall be floating).
Offshore construction is slated to begin by 2030.
