Burges Salmon has advised MeyGen in helping it secure consent for the 86MW Phase 1 Pentland Firth tidal generation development.
The MeyGen project, which is the largest tidal scheme to have been consented in Europe, will consist of up to 400, 1MW turbines that will generate enough energy to power 400,000 homes. They will be situated in approximately 3.5km2 of the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth off the north coast of Scotland between Caithness on the Scottish mainland and the Island of Stroma.
MeyGen CEO, Dan Pearson, said: “We, along with our shareholders Morgan Stanley, GDF Suez and Atlantis Resources, are delighted to have secured consent from the Scottish Ministers for Phase 1 of the Pentland Firth Project and help ensure Scotland and the UK continue to lead the world in marine renewables.
“The granting of this consent together with the planning permission secured earlier in the year from Highland Council is a key milestone for MeyGen and the marine renewables industry as a whole.
“Burges Salmon has played a central role in securing these consents and in the development of our project. It helped us to meet tight deadlines within the programme and worked with us to ensure that the Environmental Statement fulfilled the criteria necessary for the application to proceed.”
Ross Fairley, Burges Salmon’s head of renewables , said: “The Pentland Firth project is one of the most significant tidal schemes in the world, and we are delighted to have helped MeyGen reach this important milestone. We look forward to working with MeyGen on the continued development of the Pentland Firth project.”
Burges Salmon’s Renewables team has advised MeyGen throughout the application process on a range of issues including marine and onshore consenting, grid, offshore and onshore real estate and construction packages.
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Press release, October 1, 2013; Image: mygen