A £2.6 billion wind farm development in the Outer Moray Firth is expected to generate over £1bn for the UK economy, according to SSE.

Foundations for the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) project are currently being put in place. Once fully operational in 2019, 84 wind turbines will be capable of generating enough energy to power up to 450,000 homes.

SSE and it's project partners have carried out a social return on investment (SROI) assessment via analysis by NEF Consulting.

The study revealed the BOWL scheme is anticipated to add £1.13bn to UK GDP and support more than 18,100 years of full-time employment in the UK. In addition, Scotland is expected to see a spend of £530m from the construction of the Beatrice project.

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The SROI research also found for every £1 invested in community projects, £3.21 will be created in value for the community. The £6m Beatrice fund, which supports the advancement of community projects in the Highland and Moray regions, could create nearly £20m of social value when fully distributed.

Overall, the development provides £34m for community projects. A further £28m will be provided by BOWL over the lifetime of the wind farm to the Coastal Communities Fund.

Paul Cooley, SSE Head of Generation Development, said: "As a responsible developer, we wanted to measure social and economic impacts of the significant investment in Beatrice to understand the wider implications to society and the economy. As a UK-based energy company we strongly believe that our investment in much needed energy infrastructure can benefit the wider society.

"The findings of the report show that our spending on the project will not just benefit the wider UK supply chain, but also the Scottish supply chain and the local communities near the wind farm. This research offered SSE their first chance to understand the social return on investment of the community fund, and we were thrilled to see that the fund should help create more value for the community."

(LM/MH)