Scottish Borders Council’s (SBC) planning committee has approved plans jointly submitted by Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) Offshore Wind Limited and Eyemouth Harbour Trust for an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) building for the offshore wind farm in Eyemouth.

The planning permission is for a new, three storey, 1,040 square metre main building and a two storey, 538 square metre storage warehouse.

The O&M building, designed by Corstorphine + Wright Architects, will house the office, warehousing and staff welfare facilities required to support the servicing of NnG, jointly owned by EDF Renewables and ESB, once the wind farm is operational.

The investment in Eyemouth will bring an economic boost to the area providing up to 50 permanent jobs over the 25-year lifespan of the project.

NnG will supply enough low carbon electricity for around 375,000 homes and has a capacity of c. 450 megawatts (MW) of low carbon energy and will offset over 400,000 tonnes of Co² emissions each year.

“Having worked so closely with the Eyemouth Harbour Trust on the details of this proposal I am very pleased that Scottish Borders Council has approved the plans for our O&M base at Eyemouth Harbour.

“We need an O&M base for the 25-year lifespan of NnG which brings with it fantastic socio-economic benefits for the town of Eyemouth and the local community. Today’s announcement is a significant next step towards NnG’s O&M facility being based in the town.”

Matthias Haag, NnG project director.

“Today’s decision by SBC is warmly welcomed by Eyemouth Harbour Trust. We have been working closely with the NnG project team to achieve this goal.  It’s another positive and significant step towards regeneration opportunities being realised in Eyemouth.”

Christine Bell, Eyemouth Harbour Trust business manager.

Onshore construction continues for NnG at various locations along the cable route which runs underground from Thorntonloch beach and up into the Lammermuir Hills. Offshore work started in August with seabed preparations carried out in advance of the pile casings being installed.