Irish renewable project developer Mainstream Renewable Power received a go-ahead from the British Supreme Court, which refused RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) Scotland’s application to appeal the Scottish Court’s earlier ruling. This decision clears the way to proceed with the construction of the 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind park project worth £2bn (€2.3bn).
The offshore wind project was approved by the Scottish government in October 2014, along with SDIC's 784 MW Inch Cape wind project, and the Seagreen Alpha and Bravo projects (525 MW each). The RSPB sued the government, considering that it had failed to take into account risks for sea birds when approving these four large offshore wind projects with a total capacity of up to 2.3 GW. In July 2016, the Scottish Court of Session ruled in favour of the RSPB but the Scottish government filed an appeal and the decision was overturned in May 2017.
Mainstream Renewable Power has reduced the number of turbines from 125 to 54 and plans to start construction in 2018.