The approvals are the first for major offshore wind projects in Scottish waters, and the Moray First project is the second largest ever consented in the UK.

The two zones are adjacent to each other in the Moray Firth, off Scotland’s Caithness coast, and both are minority owned by Spain’s Repsol.

The Moray Firth zone – split into the Telford, Stevenson and MacColl projects, and allocated under Round 3 – is majority owned by EDP Renewables.