Positive
Project advancing - milestone achieved
High Impact
Major milestone or critical setback
On 1 July 2025, Marine Scotland’s online portal records an item titled “EIA Public Notice of Determination – West of Orkney Windfarm – West Coast of Hoy, Orkney – Section 36 Consent” for the West of Orkney Windfarm. Listed under the renewables – wind category, this document forms part of the licensing material associated with the project’s Section 36 consent. The specific labelling as an “EIA Public Notice of Determination” indicates that Marine Scotland has reached and published a formal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) determination for the offshore generating station as part of its consent decision-making process. The notice appears in a sequence of regulatory documents on the same portal for West of Orkney, including the original Environmental Impact Assessment Reports submitted on 26 September 2023, additional EIA information dated 18 October 2024, and multiple rounds of public representations in February, March and May 2025. It also sits alongside decision notices for the offshore generating station, offshore transmission infrastructure, and the Section 36 consent, all dated 27 June 2025, as well as associated derogation and marine protected area assessments. This context shows the EIA determination as a discrete milestone within a broader package of determinations and licences that underpin the overall consent. The publication of the EIA Public Notice of Determination confirms that the EIA has been formally assessed and that a determination has been issued and notified to the public, supporting the project’s progression into the post-consent phase.