West of Orkney wind farm project secures planning consents
Highland Council previously voted to raise no objections to the plans off the north Caithness coast.
The hope is to begin generating electricity by 2029.Project director Stuart Macauley said: "Its construction would spark significant investment in Scotland's supply chain, port and harbour infrastructure, and the skilled jobs that would follow."The developers are the first to secure both offshore and onshore planning consent as part of the ScotWind leasing round.It is an auction of the rights to develop several sites in Scottish waters for offshore wind.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
18 hours ago
- BBC News
CalMac pays out £460,000 to delayed ferry passengers
CalMac has paid out more than £460,000 in compensation to passengers because of delays and cancellations to its services since April last state-owned ferry operator paid £432,735 in compensation to travellers in 2024-25, with a further £33,792 paid out in May and June this marks a 37% rise on compensation payments in 2023-24, but a slight fall from 2022-23, when the operator paid £454,000 to delayed passengers, according to figures obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats.A Transport Scotland spokesperson said just over 5% of sailings on the network had been cancelled over the last 10 years. Lib Dem transport spokesman, Jamie Greene, accused the Scottish government of "letting the ferry network deteriorate".He pointed to reliability issues within the CalMac fleet and delays in new vessels going into service. The Glen Sannox ferry, built by Port Glasgow shipyard Ferguson Marine, was delivered years late and over sister ship, the Glen Rosa, will now not be delivered until early next year due to a series of the MV Caledonian Isles, which has not sailed since January last year, could be out of action for a further four months in order to undergo further Lib Dems have launched a consultation on the future of the country's ferry who represents the West Scotland region, said staff and passengers had been "let down" by the SNP's management of the networkHe added: "The SNP government took control of the company and broke their promise to deliver new ferries on time and on budget, which would have reduced the massive bills we are now seeing for compensation and repairs."All of this has created a grim new norm for my constituents along the west coast, from losing business to missing hospital appointments." Data obtained by the Lib Dems via freedom of information request showed more than 7,000 compensation claims had been lodged by passengers over a two-year period between April 2023 and April operator has paid out a total of £1.9m in compensation since the 2017-18 financial said it expected to welcome an additional 13 vessels to its fleet by said, when delays and cancellations did occur, staff worked to find alternative routes or sailings for passengers.A spokesperson added: "We're operating more sailings than ever before, with many of our vessels stretched to their limits."It is no secret that our fleet is ageing and that this can lead to higher levels of technical problems."This is why we are looking forward to welcoming 13 new vessels to the CalMac fleet by 2029, which will lead to less technical problems and cancellations, giving passengers a more reliable service." A Transport Scotland spokesperson said those new vessels would be able to "operate in more challenging sea and weather conditions".They added: "Between January 2015 and June 2025 CalMac have operated over 1.6 million sailings, with just 5.5% of scheduled sailings cancelled. Of those cancelled sailings, 25% were for technical reasons whilst more than double was due to the weather at 60%."In the coming year, the Scottish government intend to invest over £530m maintaining and enhancing our networks and strengthening resilience of services on the west coast and northern isles."This represents a near 23% increase on 24-25 funding levels."
BBC News
20 hours ago
- BBC News
Nelms comments on stadium delay
Managing director John Nelms describes the length of time it's taking for Dundee's new stadium to be approved as "curious". (Scotsman - subscription required), externalRead Sunday's Scottish gossip
The Guardian
21 hours ago
- The Guardian
Cost of Victoria's renewable energy transmission plan projected to double
One of Australia's largest renewable energy transmission projects has expanded zones for solar, battery and wind developments with the cost of connection to almost double. The latest version of Victoria's 2025 Transmission Plan, released by state government agency VicGrid on Sunday, revealed a 200,000-hectare increase in the area available to developers. The plan outlines the parts of the state designated as renewable energy zones and the new transmission infrastructure needed in the next 15 years to connect them to the grid. The latest version increases areas of land designated as hubs for wind, solar and battery farms from 1.66m hectares proposed in May to 1.88m hectares across six proposed renewable energy zones. The amendment increases the footprint of these areas to 7.9% of the state, up from 7.0% in the original draft proposal, after industry feedback said larger areas were needed to make projects technically and commercially viable. The number of distinct zones has been increased to nine from seven, also in response to feedback. Sign up: AU Breaking News email The greatest change will be in the state's west with an expansion to the Wimmera-southern Mallee zone, while a new area around Coleraine has been added to the south west zone. The state energy minister, Lily D'Ambrosio, said more than 42% of Victoria's electricity was produced by renewables in the past financial year, with the state reaching record levels of renewable energy generation. 'Our record investment in renewable energy is paying off,' she said in a statement on Sunday. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'Victoria consistently has the lowest wholesale power prices in the country, helping to slash energy bills for families and businesses.' Victorians paid an average wholesale price of $107 per megawatt hour, compared with $151 in NSW, $138 in South Australia, $127 in Queensland and $115 in Tasmania, according to government data. But the latest modelling predicts the cost of connecting Victoria's renewable energy zones could almost double. The government initially estimated a $4.3bn cost, but VicGrid puts the latest price tag closer to $7.9bn, taking into account new Australian Energy Market Operator costings for the transmission lines. The costs are expected to be mostly recouped through higher consumer bills, although the government argues Victorians will overall be better off with wholesale energy costs lowered by the delivery of more renewable energy into the grid. The federal government has a target of 82% renewable energy in the national grid by 2030, up from 43% this year.
