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Aberdeenshire Council Approves Onshore Links for Caledonia and Buchan Wind Farms

The decisions unlock the cable routes needed to connect two large offshore wind projects to Scotland’s power grid.

Overview

  • Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee approved onshore plans Thursday for Ocean Winds’ 2 GW Caledonia project and the ~1 GW Buchan floating scheme, clearing their landfall and cable corridors.
  • For Caledonia, consent covers about 3 km of underground cable linking the consented Burnside substation to SSEN Transmission’s planned Greens substation.
  • Ocean Winds says the Caledonia route follows environmental assessments and will be buried to avoid permanent visual impact, with offshore consent now awaiting a Scottish Government decision and onshore works planned for 2028.
  • For Buchan, permission in principle allows a landfall at Rattray Head and an underground cable of roughly 20 km to a new substation near Peterhead, serving a site about 75 km northeast of Fraserburgh with up to 70 floating turbines.
  • The Buchan consortium submitted its offshore consent application in August 2025 with a decision expected later in 2026, and it is targeting an early‑2030s grid connection while promoting Scottish manufacturing and long‑term jobs.