$3bn Scottish wind farm nears financial close

Mainstream Renewable Power, a global green energy company based in Dublin, is in "exclusive discussions" to develop a 450MW wind farm off the east coast of Scotland.

The company is in talks with a consortium led by Scottish power company InterGen, along with Siemens Project Ventures, the pan-European Marguerite Fund and Infrared Capital.

The $3bn Neart na Gaoithe (Gaelic for "strength of the wind) farm will be located in the outer Forth Estuary in the North Sea.

Neart na Gaoithe will generate the cheapest electricity from any offshore wind farm in the UK– Andy Kinsella, Mainstream CEO

It has already secured a 15-year Contract for Difference (CfD) from the UK’s National Grid, which will give it an inflation-linked strike price for the electricity it produces.

In October 2014, the Scottish government awarded planning consent and the project is expected to be fully commissioned and generating electricity by 2020, subject to the outcome of a judicial review currently before the Scottish courts.

Andy Kinsella, Mainstream’s chief operating officer, said: "This $3bn infrastructure project has very significant benefits for Scotland. It will create over 500 jobs during construction and over 100 permanent jobs during the 25-year operational phase.

"More than $800m will be directly spent in Scotland during the construction phase and a further $900m will be spent during the operational phase.

"Neart na Gaoithe will generate the cheapest electricity from any offshore wind farm in the UK.

"All the building blocks are now in place to deliver this power plant into operation by 2020; all consents have been received; the CfD was awarded; the technology and construction contractors are in place and, very significantly, the required debt funding for the project has been sourced from commercial banks."

Image: A wind turbine in North Lanarkshire, Scotland (Craigdoogan/Wikimedia Commons)