Buchan floating wind: 1GW project, 75km offshore, cable landing at Peterhead
Key takeaway: Buchan Offshore Wind is a 1GW floating project with onshore consent secured. Cable routes run 20km underground to Peterhead substation. Offshore consent decision expected later this year.
The Buchan Offshore Wind consortium has secured onshore planning consent for the grid connection of a 1GW floating wind farm 75km northeast of Fraserburgh. Cable landfall at Rattray Head, substation near Peterhead.
- 1GW floating wind farm, 75km northeast of Fraserburgh
- Onshore planning consent granted by Aberdeenshire Council on 14 May 2026
- Cable landfall at Rattray Head, 20km underground route to Peterhead substation
- Up to 70 turbines on BW Ideol concrete Damping Pool floating substructures
- Offshore consent application submitted August 2025, decision expected later this year
What Buchan Offshore Wind is
The Buchan Offshore Wind consortium — comprising BayWa r.e., Elicio, and BW Ideol — received planning consent from Aberdeenshire Council on 14 May 2026 for the onshore infrastructure connecting the proposed 1GW floating wind farm to the grid.
The onshore consent covers a landfall at Rattray Head and an approximately 20-kilometre underground cable route to a new project substation near Peterhead. The offshore consent application was submitted to the Scottish government in August 2025, with a decision expected later this year.
The project targets grid connection in the early 2030s.
The technology
Up to 70 wind turbines are planned, mounted on BW Ideol's concrete Damping Pool floating substructures — a design intended for serial production and harsh North Sea conditions.
The site is located around 75 kilometres northeast of Fraserburgh, in water depths that make fixed-bottom foundations impractical. This is exactly the scenario floating wind was designed for.
On the same day Buchan received onshore consent, Aberdeenshire Council also approved the onshore cable corridor for Ocean Winds' 2GW Caledonia offshore wind farm — showing the scale of offshore wind infrastructure now moving through the planning system.
Why Peterhead matters here
Peterhead is the grid connection point. The 20km underground cable route terminates at a new substation near the town, making Peterhead a critical node in the energy transition infrastructure.
This is a concrete example of how offshore wind creates demand far from the turbine site: cable routes, substations, port logistics for construction and ongoing operations, and local supply chain activity all follow.
The Buchan project is one of several floating wind developments in Scottish waters. ScotWind and INTOG leasing rounds have added over 23.5GW of demonstration and commercial-scale floating capacity to the pipeline.
Read the floating wind guide for how port demand, moorings and support vessels connect.
Sources
- Offshore Wind report https://www.offshorewind.biz/2026/05/15/aberdeenshire-council-greenlights-onshore-plans-for-1-gw-scottish-floating-wind-project/
- Buchan Offshore Wind / BW Ideol https://www.bw-ideol.com/en/buchan-offshore-wind-scotwind
- Offshore Wind Scotland: floating wind https://www.offshorewindscotland.org.uk/the-offshore-wind-market-in-scotland/floating-wind-in-scotland/
- Scottish Government offshore wind ambition https://www.gov.scot/publications/update-2020-offshore-wind-policy-statement-scotlands-offshore-wind-ambition-2/pages/2/