SSE, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and SDIC Power have given the go-ahead for construction to begin on the Beatrice offshore wind farm after reaching financial close.
The 588 MW, 84-turbine project, situated in Scotland’s Outer Moray Firth, was consented by the Scottish government in March 2014 and granted an Investment Contract by the UK government in May 2014.
It will be one of the largest private investments ever made in Scottish infrastructure.
Financial close on the £2.6 billion project comes just weeks after another major UK offshore wind power project – Dudgeon – also closed financing.
Statoil, Masdar and Statkraft said earlier this month that they had arranged £1.3 billion of long term finance for the 402 MW Dudgeon project with a consortium of international banks and financial institutions.
Onshore construction work on Beatrice will start this year, followed by offshore activities in 2017, SSE said.
Beatrice is expected to be fully operational in 2019.
