Planning Consent Awarded

In April 2024, the Green Volt floating offshore wind project reached a major regulatory milestone when it received full planning consent, covering both its onshore and offshore elements. The project overview notes that this milestone comprised the award of onshore and offshore consents together, marking the transition of Green Volt into a fully consented project. Onshore, this was anchored by Town and Country Planning Consent for the project’s onshore transmission assets, following the earlier submission of the onshore planning application to Aberdeenshire Council in August 2023. This consent provided formal planning authorisation for the land-based transmission infrastructure needed to connect the offshore windfarm to the grid. In parallel, offshore consents were secured through the attainment of the Marine Licence and Section 36 Consent for the generation and transmission assets, completing the overall consent package. The project website highlights this as a significant milestone achieved after environmental surveys that began in 2020 and a sequence of regulatory steps, including an offshore consent application to the Scottish Government Marine Directorate in January 2023. With both onshore and offshore consents in place, Green Volt is described as having “full onshore and offshore consent granted,” enabling it to move confidently towards construction and subsequent milestones, including the award of a UK Government Contract for Difference later in 2024.