About Argyll Array
The Project was announced on 16th February 2009. Since then, SPR has been organizing environmental and engineering studies of the site, and consulting with interested parties at local and national levels. A project milestone was passed in March 2011 when the Argyll Array was formally included in the Scottish Government's list of offshore wind projects approved to proceed to a planning application. This was announced in Marine Scotland's Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy. Click here for a copy of the Plan and its Post-Adoption Statement. Although the project is included as part of the Plan for Offshore Wind Energy, it will not be built unless it receives individual permission from the Scottish Government. Below are the key pieces of legislation governing the permitting of offshore wind projects: Marine Scotland is the department of the Scottish Government which will decide whether to refuse the application or to approve it. If it is approved, Marine Scotland will also decide whether or not to impose conditions on the project. Click here to link to the relevant part of Marine Scotland's website. SPR's application to Marine Scotland will have to include an ‘Environmental Statement'. This document will outline any significant impacts that the project would have on the ecological, physical and human environment. In order to draft the Environmental Statement, SPR will have to carry out studies into a variety of different subjects e.g. turbine noise, wave heights, visual impacts, tourism, wildlife. SPR is in the process of carrying out such studies. This process is called ‘Environmental Impact Assessment'. There is more information about both the Environmental Impact Assessment and the Development and Planning timetable in this section of the website. Find out up-to-date information about these assessments in the News and Events section of the website.
