ELECTRICITY ACT 1989

THE ELECTRICITY GENERATING STATIONS (APPLICATIONS FOR VARIATION OF CONSENT) (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2013

MARINE (SCOTLAND) ACT 2010

Notice is hereby given that Highland Wind Limited, registered under company registration SC675148 at 4th Floor 115 George Street, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, EH2 4JN has applied to the Scottish Ministers to vary the consent granted under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 on 28 June 2023 in order to construct and operate offshore generating station known as the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm, located 7.5 km off the coast, of Dounreay, Caithness.

The application made under section 36C of the Electricity Act 1989 seeks to make the following variations to the section 36 consent and associated marine licences:

• Reducing the number of Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs) from seven to six;
• Reducing the WTG footprint area from 10 km² to 5.85 km². This comprises the area of sea surface occupied by the WTGs and associated floating substructure, excluding the mooring lines;
• Reducing the rotor swept area from 316,673 m² to 283,448 m². This comprises the installation of up to 1 x WTG with rotor diameter up to 220 m and 5 x WTGs with rotor diameter up to 250 m;
• Reducing the number of floating substructures from seven to six;
• Reducing the number of mooring lines from 63 to 54;
• Reducing the number of anchors or piles from 63 to 54;
• Extending the operational life of the Project from 10 to 25 years; and

   

• Align proposed project design refinements within associated marine licences and streamline licence conditions.

The variation application and supporting information are available for inspection, free of charge, during normal office/opening hours at:

The section 36 variation and marine licence variation applications and supporting information is available for review on the following websites:

- https://marine.gov.scot/ml/pentland-floating-offshore-wind-farm

- www.pentlandfloatingwind.com

Any representations regarding the section 36 variation application and/or marine licence variation application should be made in writing to MD.MarineRenewables@gov.scot or by post to Marine Directorate - Licensing Operations Team, Scottish Government, 375 Victoria Road, Aberdeen, AB11 9DB, identifying the proposal and specifying grounds for objection or support, not later than 24 November 2023, although the Scottish Ministers may consider representations received after this date. Representations should be dated and should clearly state the name (in block capitals) and the full return email or postal address of those making representation.  

Subsequent submission by the companies detailed above of additional information to the Scottish Ministers will be publicised in a similar manner to the current variation application.   Representations relative to additional information should be made on the same basis as detailed above.

Where the Scottish Ministers decide to exercise their discretion to do so the Scottish Ministers shall cause a Public Local Inquiry (PLI) to be held.

Following receipt of all views and representations, the Scottish Ministers will determine the application for consent in one of two ways:

• Consent to the variation application(s), with or without conditions attached; or
• Reject the variation application(s).

If consent is granted for the variation application, the Scottish Ministers will consider exercising their discretion to vary the Marine Licences granted in respect of the wind farm on 28 June 2023, licence numbers MS-00009991 and MS-00009992. The variations would revise the proposed project design refinements and streamline the licence conditions. The Scottish Ministers would consider the variation of the Marine Licence in terms of sub-section 30(3)(d) of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 to ensure that the marine licence and consent granted under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 are consistent.  Any representations in relation to the potential marine licence variation should be submitted to the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate - Licensing Operations Team (“MD-LOT”) in the same manner as described as above relative to representations in respect of the variation application and within the same timeframe.

Fair Processing Notice

The Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate Licensing Operations Team (“MD-LOT”) determine applications for marine licences under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, the Marine and Coastal Act 2009 and section 36 consents under The Electricity Act 1989. During the consultation process any person having an interest in the outcome of the application may make a representation to MD-LOT. The representation may contain personal information, for example a name or address. This representation will only be used for the purpose of determining an application and will be stored securely in the Scottish Government’s official corporate record. Representations will be shared with the applicant and/or agent acting on behalf of the applicant, any people or organisations that we consult in relation to the application, the Directorate of Planning and Environmental Appeals should the Scottish Ministers call a PLI and, where necessary, be published online, however personal information will be removed before sharing or publishing.  

A full privacy notice can be found at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Licensing/marine/PrivacyNotice. If you are unable to access this, or you have any queries or concerns about how your personal information will be handled, contact MD-LOT at: MD.MarineRenewables@gov.scot or Marine Directorate - Licensing Operations Team, Scottish Government, 375 Victoria Road, Aberdeen, AB11 9DB.