The Scottish government has given its planning consent for the 50MW floating offshore wind farm near Aberdeen.
The Kincardine offshore wind farm will consist of eight turbines, each with a capacity of 6MW and will be located 15km south-east off the coast of Aberdeen.
It is estimated to cost £250m and is expected to create around 110 jobs in the region.
Scottish Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse said: “Once operational, this pioneering, 50MW Kincardine Offshore Windfarm will create jobs and investment across Scotland through the use of our supply chain. It will also cement our place as one of the world’s leading nations in the innovation and deployment of floating offshore wind.
“If the technology can be demonstrated at scale, it has huge potential to help Scotland meet its energy needs and to develop a supply chain that can service opportunities elsewhere in Europe and in markets such as South East Asia and North America."
Once operational, the wind farm will have the capacity to provide 218GWhr of electricity, which is equivalent to power around 50,000 Scottish homes, while preventing about 95,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere.
Tthe first turbine at the wind farm is expected to be installed in the second quarter of 2018, The Scotsman reported.
Scottish Renewables senior policy manager Lindsay Roberts said: “Scotland is home to approximately 25% of Europe’s offshore wind resource and we are now starting to build projects which will harness this potential.”
Image: Scotland gives green signal to floating offshore wind farm. Photo: Courtesy of Phil_Bird/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.