A planned 125-turbine offshore wind farm project off the north coast of Scotland, known as the West of Orkney wind farm, will not be built unless “unfair” transmission charges are overhauled, the developer has warned. The project, which aimed to generate enough electricity to power two million homes by 2029, has been paused due to the high costs of connecting to the electricity network, which are the highest in Argyll and the north of Scotland.
The consortium behind the project, which includes Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and Renewable Infrastructure Development Group, says the transmission charges make it impossible to compete against projects proposed in England, where the charges are significantly lower. The UK government acknowledges that it is considering the charges as part of a wider review, but industry body Scottish Renewables has warned that the problem is most acute in the north of Scotland, as it is furthest away from the UK’s biggest population centres around London and the south of England.
Project director Stuart McAuley says the transmission charge can increase costs by up to 30%, making the project uncompetitive when bidding for government contracts against renewable developments further south that do not have the same burden. He adds that £100 million has already been spent on the two-gigawatt wind farm, which would be located west of the Orkney mainland and north of the Sutherland coast, but investment has had to be put on hold until the transmission charging issue is resolved.
The West of Orkney wind farm is being developed as part of the UK government’s Clean Power 2030 plan, which aims for 95% of the UK’s electricity to come from low-carbon generation by the end of the decade. However, the Scottish government has expressed disappointment that only two projects were awarded contracts in the latest allocation round, and has described the transmission charges as “counter-productive,” with the Just Transition Commission saying the system inflates costs and needs urgent reform.