Neart na Gaoithe (NnG), a consortium of EDF Renewables and ESB, has secured approval to build an operations and maintenance building for its Eyemouth offshore wind farm project.
NnG and Eyemouth Harbour Trust have been granted approval by the Scottish Borders Council to build a new, three-storey, 1,040 square metre main building and a two-storey, 538 square metre storage warehouse.
The two buildings are part of efforts by NnG to ensure Eyemouth Harbour moves a step closer to housing the project’s O&M base.
The O&M building is designed by Corstorphine + Wright Architects to house the office, warehousing and staff welfare facilities required to support the servicing of NnG, once the wind farm is operational.
NnG will supply enough low carbon electricity for around 375,000 homes, has a capacity of 450MW and will offset over 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
Matthias Haag, NnG project director, said: “We need an O&M base for the 25-year lifespan of NnG which brings with it fantastic socio-economic benefits for the town of Eyemouth and the local community. Today’s announcement is a significant next step towards NnG’s O&M facility being based in the town.”
The wind farm projects are expected to provide up to 50 permanent jobs over the 25-year lifespan of the project. Additional benefits would see training, retraining and apprenticeship opportunities available to the residents of Eyemouth and the surrounding area.
Christine Bell, Eyemouth Harbour Trust business manager, said: “Today’s decision by SBC is warmly welcomed by Eyemouth Harbour Trust. We have been working closely with the NnG project team to achieve this goal. It’s another positive and significant step towards regeneration opportunities being realised in Eyemouth.”
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