£6bn Beatrice offshore wind farm to also generate £6m in community funding – Scottish Energy News

The foundations are now being put into place for one of Scotland’s largest
ever private infrastructure projects. Once fully operational in 2019,
Beatrice’s 84 wind turbines will be able to generate enough energy to power
up to 450,000 homes.

Meanwhile, new research into the benefits of the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm
Ltd shows the social and economic impact the project is expected to deliver.

This research saw SSE, and its project partners, carry out a social return
on investment (SROI) assessment for the first time thanks to analysis by
NEF Consulting.

This shows that for every £1 invested in community projects, £3.21 will be
created in value for the community.

The £6 million Beatrice fund, which supports the advancement of community
projects in the Highland and Moray regions, could create nearly £20 million
of social value when fully distributed.

In total, Beatrice provides £34 million for community projects. A further
£28 million will be provided by BOWL over the lifetime of the wind farm to
the Coastal Communities Fund.

Not only that, but, according to new economic modelling, the impact of the
£2.6 billon investment in Beatrice is expected to add £1.13 billion to UK
GDP and support more than 18,100 years of full-time employment in the UK.

Scotland is expected to benefit from in £530 million of construction
contracts from the construction of the Beatrice project.

An SSE spokesman said: “The findings of the report show that our spending
on the project will not just benefit the wider UK supply chain, but also
the Scottish supply chain and the local communities near the wind farm. “
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