The Scottish Government has approved four new offshore wind farms that are being developed by a joint venture between SSE Renewables and Fluor.

They include Mainstream Renewable Power’s 450MW Neart na Gaoithe wind farm, Repsol and EDP Renewables UK’s 800MW Inch Cape development, and the 525MW Seagreen Alpha and 525MW Seagreen Bravo wind farms.

The farms in the Forth and Tay region are expected to have a combined energy-generating capacity of about 2.3GW, sufficient to power more than 1.4 million homes. Furthermore, they are expected to save 135 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in their lifetime.

Scotland’s energy minister, Fergus Ewing, said: “Renewable energy is extremely valuable to Scotland’s economy, reducing our carbon emissions and providing low-carbon energy supplies, as well as jobs and long-term investment.

"These wind farms alone could generate a combined GVA (Gross Value Added) of between £314 million and £1.2 billion in Scotland over their lifetime, while generating up to 13,612 jobs during the construction period.”