The Highland Council has asked the Scottish government to help local authorities in setting a recommended level of community benefit for offshore wind developments.
In addition, the Highland Council has asked for rapid progress to be made to agree a position on the devolution of Crown Estate incomes to Scotland and beyond to local authority level due to the anticipated rental income for Crown Estate of GBP 56 million from the 588MW Beatrice offshore wind farm.
The Beatrice offshore wind farm will be located in the Outer Moray Firth, off the north coast of Scotland, and comprise 84 7MW Siemens wind turbines erected on jacket foundations in ocean depths between 35 and 56 meters. The wind farm is expected to be commissioned in 2019.
Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd. (BOWL), a partnership formed between SSE, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and SDIC Power, is the owner and developer of the wind farm.