Positive
Project advancing - milestone achieved
High Impact
Major milestone or critical setback
On 14 May 2026 Aberdeenshire Council's Infrastructure Services Committee granted planning consent for an approximately 3 km underground cable corridor connecting the previously-consented Caledonia onshore substation at Burnside to the planned new SSEN Transmission substation at Greens. The cable corridor was made necessary by subsequent regulatory and grid-connection developments after the Burnside substation was consented in July 2025, which required Caledonia to connect to the Greens substation. With this consent in place Caledonia now holds full onshore planning consent, leaving only the offshore Section 36 application pending determination by the Scottish Government Marine Directorate. The cable will be installed underground, ensuring no permanent visual impact, and the consent was informed by environmental assessments and consultation with SEPA, Historic Environment Scotland and NatureScot. Caledonia is a 2 GW ScotWind site in the outer Moray Firth developed by Ocean Winds (a 50/50 joint venture between EDPR and ENGIE) and located adjacent to its operating Moray East and Moray West offshore wind farms; combined with these neighbours it will take Ocean Winds' long-term operational headcount in the Moray Firth to over 200 roles. Onshore construction is planned to start in 2028.