Spiorad na Mara Public Consultation
Intelligent Energy. Greener Planet
Fàilte gu dachaigh Northland Power ann an Alba agus an dà phròiseact Scotwind againn a tha aig muir- Spiorad na Mara agus Havbredey.
Welcome to the home of Northland Power in Scotland and our two ScotWind offshore wind projects – Spiorad na Mara and Havbredey.
Northland is a global producer of power dedicated to helping the clean energy transition by generating electricity from clean, renewable resources. Founded in 1987, Northland has a long history of developing, building, owning, and operating clean and green power infrastructure assets and is a global leader in offshore wind.
Northland was delighted to be successful in the outcome of the Scottish Government’s ScotWind leasing round in April 2022, winning the rights to develop two offshore wind projects off the coast of the Outer Hebrides.
In May 2023, Northland entered into a partnership agreement with ESB for a 24.5% interest in both ScotWind projects. Northland retains a 75.5% stake in each project and continues to lead on their development, construction, and operation.
These projects have the combined potential to meet the average annual electricity needs for around 2.5 million Scottish homes with renewable electricity and save around 3.9 million tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions every year.
The primary focus of Northland is to build a sustainable and carbon-neutral world based on our commitment to safely supply reliable, affordable, and clean energy while delivering long-term economic value.
This has been Northland’s focus for over 34 years and continues to be central to how we develop, construct and operate projects. For more information about Northland, please visit www.northlandpower.com.
Community commitments – a key part of our DNA
Northland is fully committed to working in partnership and engaging with local communities and stakeholders throughout the development, construction and operation of our projects, and have a long history of working closely with communities throughout the lifecycle of projects around the world.
We take pride in our approach to establishing, building, and cultivating strong, mutually beneficial relationships to garner trust and support. In fact, this is such an important part of our DNA, that we have developed and published a set of commitments to ensure that our long-standing practices and values are transparent, and to demonstrate the consistency of our approach across our global footprint. These commitments include:
- Engaging in meaningful consultation with local communities, early, often and throughout the lifecycle of our projects.
- Valuing and investing in effective programs that honour and seek to preserve local community heritage, culture, language, and values.
- Understanding and managing any potential impacts on local communities.
- Encouraging local employment, subcontracting and material supply.
- Providing a local liaison point of contact on each of our projects during all stages of the project lifecycle.
- Supporting programs that enhance the lives of individuals that reflect the priorities of our local communities.
- Increasing our understanding of local communities and cultures.
Consultation and engagement with local communities and stakeholders is at the heart of our project development process and we look forward to building on the strong relationships that we have already established on the Western Isles/North-West of Scotland.
Spiorad na Mara Drop-ins announced
We are commencing community drop-ins, at four different community-based locations in June, July and August 2024.
The drop-ins will involve members of the project’s community liaison and engagement team being available throughout the day to meet members of the community, who can either make an appointment or simply drop in. This will allow individuals and small groups to meet with us, close to where they live, to learn more about the project generally or to discuss specific topics that are of interest to them.
ScotWind
ScotWind was the first round of offshore wind leasing in Scottish waters for a decade. The ScotWind leasing process enabled developers to apply for seabed rights to plan and build windfarms in Scottish waters. The result is that there are now 20 offshore wind projects with option agreements confirmed, which together total up to 27.6GW of clean energy.
Scotland’s target is to reach net zero emissions by 2045. These projects will deliver locally produced, clean offshore wind energy that is central to Scotland’s efforts to tackle the climate emergency, secure the UK’s energy supply, and generate billions of pounds of investment in Scotland.
Latest figures, taking into account all 20 projects, now show initial total Scottish commitments total £28.8bn.
For further information, please visit: www.CrownEstateScotland.com
Our ScotWind projects
Northland is proud to have been trusted and awarded the rights to develop two offshore wind farms in the Outer Hebrides, originally known as N4 and N2, supporting Scotland’s journey to net-zero.
The wind resource in and around the Outer Hebrides is among the best in the world, and ScotWind places the Outer Hebrides in the forefront of the global battle against Climate Change. The potential for offshore wind in Scotland is immense. With ScotWind, Scotland can become a world leader in offshore wind, which will lead to significant environmental, social, and economic benefits.
During the autumn and winter of 2022, Northland spent time engaging with people in the local community, including school children and the Gaelic department at UHI Outer Hebrides, to establish more appropriate and meaningful names for the projects.
This led to the creation of Spiorad na Mara (N4) and Havbredey (N2), with both names reflecting the area in which the projects are situated, including its rich cultural heritage and history.
A Gaelic expression, meaning Spirit of the Sea
The proposed project is set in an area approximately 5-13 kilometres off the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. With a potential capacity of around 900MW, it could meet the average annual electricity needs of around 1.2 million Scottish homes and save more than 1.7 million tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions every year.
A Norse word meaning ‘Isles on the edge of the sea’ and believed to be where the word Hebrides was derived from.
The proposed project is approximately 35km offshore, northwest of Lewis. With a potential capacity of around 1,500MW, it could meet the average annual electricity needs of more than 1.3 million Scottish homes and save more than 2.2 million tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions every year.
Supply chain
Northland is committed to supporting the Scottish and UK supply chain and will work in close partnership with local businesses and suppliers to ensure that opportunities are realised.
Northland is keen to support the development of a new offshore wind supply chain in the west of Scotland. This will benefit local suppliers and the surrounding economy and will help to ensure that our projects are delivered as competitively as possible.
Businesses interested in getting involved are encouraged to complete the supply chain registration form, which can be found via the following link.
Northland Power is also a member of the DeepWind offshore wind cluster, which draws together suppliers, innovators and skills providers to service the development of offshore wind in the north of Scotland.
Membership of DeepWind is free, and potential supply chain members to join up via the following link, to access various events and initiatives to promote local supply chain opportunities.