Planning Consent Submitted

The Scottish Ministers, via the Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team (MD‑LOT), issued a Scoping Opinion for the Havbredey Offshore Wind Farm in July 2025. The opinion confirms that, because the project will have an installed capacity greater than 50 MW, the development will require a Section 36 consent under the Electricity Act 1989 and marine licences under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The opinion sets out expectations for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), including use of a design envelope, assessment of reasonable alternatives, and detailed socio‑economic impact work to support a future application. [1] Critically for the project’s regulatory timeline, section 1.1.5 of the Scoping Opinion states that if the developer does not submit applications for Section 36 consent and the associated marine licences within 12 months of the date of the opinion (15 July 2025), the Scottish Ministers strongly recommend seeking further advice regarding the opinion’s continued validity. This creates an implied deadline of 15 July 2026 for lodging the formal development consent applications. The Marine Scotland case record for Havbredey (SCOP‑0069) shows the application stage as “Pre‑application” and lists the Scoping Report and Habitats Regulations Appraisal Screening Report, together with the Scoping Opinion itself, but no Section 36 or marine licence applications yet. Accordingly, submission of the combined Section 36 and marine licence planning consent package is treated as a planned milestone expected by mid‑July 2026, rather than an event already achieved. [1][2]