Planning Consent Awarded

The Caledonia Offshore Wind Farm project anticipates a key regulatory milestone in the 2025/26 period, when a decision on the project’s consent award is expected from the Marine Directorate and Aberdeenshire Council. In the project FAQ, Ocean Winds sets out an indicative development timeline that explicitly highlights “2025/26: Decision on consent award from Marine Directorate and Aberdeenshire Council,” signalling that the formal planning and marine consents for both offshore and onshore elements are programmed to be determined during this window. This projected consent decision follows earlier development steps already underway and frames when the project expects to secure the statutory approvals needed to proceed toward construction planning. The same FAQ explains the lead‑in to this decision point: offshore and onshore scoping reports were submitted in 2022, ecological and geotechnical surveys and first public consultations took place in 2023, and pre‑application consultations are scheduled in 2024 ahead of submission of the full consent application in late 2024. The consent award decision by the Marine Directorate and Aberdeenshire Council therefore represents the culmination of this multi‑year assessment and consultation process. While the decision has not yet occurred, anchoring it in the 2025/26 timeframe provides clarity on the project’s regulatory pathway and underpins subsequent milestones, including onshore construction from 2028 and offshore construction from 2029/30, leading to planned operations in 2031/32.