UK utility SSE Renewables has renamed its giant Seagreen 2 and 3 offshore wind farms in the North Sea to distinguish the projects from the 1.1GW Seagreen 1 now in development by new majority-owner French oil & gas group Total.
To be known as Berwick Bank and Marr Bank as a “nod to the geological history of each site”, the two projects will have proposed installed capacities of 1.4-2.3GW and 900MW-1.85GW, respectively, setting them on a course to be two of Scotland’s largest sea-based wind developments.
“Offshore wind is critical if both Scotland and the UK are to achieve net zero. The two wind farms will contribute significantly to carbon reduction targets and will help to drive forward a green recovery. We’re pleased to have renamed them to help distinguish them as separate sites in their own right,” said SSE lead project manager Malcolm Grant.
Berwick Bank and Marr Bank, located some 40-50km offshore in the North Sea beyond the Firth of Forth, are both at the development stage, with the former already having secured a grid connection and slated to be operational as soon as 2027 and the latter “following slightly later timescales”.
Seagreen 1, which is sited some 27km offshore in water depths of 35-70m, was awarded to SSE Renewables by the UK Crown Estate in 2010 as part the country’s Round 3 auction and consented in October 2014, but further development was waylaid until November 2017 due to an ultimately unsuccessful legal challenge by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
