Plans for world's largest offshore wind farm unveiled

A controversial plan to set up the world's largest offshore wind farm off the Scottish coast, with 339 turbines sited in the Moray Firth, has been unveiled, even as the proposal attracted vocal opposition from campaigners including American tycoon Donald Trump.

The project is significantly larger than previous envisaged, which would have included erection of 200 turbines.

According to developers, the £4.5-billion project, 13 miles off Caithness, could create hundreds of jobs and supply a million homes with electricity. It would also come as a major boost to the Scottish government's target for meeting 100 per cent of the country's electricity demand from renewables by the end of the decade.

However, according to critics, the turbines – some reaching 670 ft above sea level – would be a blot on the landscape.The international companies behind Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd (Morl) yesterday submitted their plans to the Scottish government agency Marine Scotland, saying the proposals represented the culmination of three years of development work, data gathering, extensive environmental studies and broad consultation.

On approval, work would get under way in 2015 while completion would happen by 2020.

The wind farm covering around 114 sq miles would have a generating capacity of 1,500MW of power – about the same as a conventional power station.