A NEW bid to bring offshore energy onto the National Grid using the former Cockenzie Power Station site has been launched as the battle for the prime coastal land hots up.
Seagreen Wind Energy has lodged a Pre Application Notice (PAN) with East Lothian Council over plans to bring wind farm power onto land at Cockenzie, where there is a direct link to the National Grid.
The latest proposal, however, has raised alarm bells for some in neighbouring Prestonpans, as the boundary for the project appears to cross the well-used Greenhills community space.
Seagreen currently has a £3bn offshore wind farm development under construction after it was granted exclusive rights for the Firth of Forth Zone of the UK’s Round 3 offshore wind farm development programme.
Phase one within the zone includes the development of two offshore windfarms – Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo – located more than 27km from the Angus coastline.
Work is already under way to bring the energy online at a number of sites, with Cockenzie the latest one to be put forward.
The former Cockenzie Power Station site was bought by East Lothian Council from ScottishPower. It has been marketed for projects, with a visionary masterplan setting out a wide range of employment, energy and recreational uses for the 37-hectare site and surrounding area.
To date, a substation which will bring energy onshore for Inch Cape Offshore Ltd is the only proposal given planning permission for the site.
Seagreen’s proposals cover an area of land outwith the power station footprint itself, where underground cables would be brought on land, under the main road and into the National Grid inshore.
The proposal includes an onshore substation, underground electricity cables and “temporary and permanent infrastructure to export electricity”.
Details of public consultations, which will be held online, are due to be confirmed.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here