Berwick Bank Wind Farm Environmental Impact Assessment

Hardisty Jones has recently delivered the offshore and onshore socio-economics EIA chapters as part of the Environmental Statement for the Berwick Bank Offshore Wind Farm (“Berwick Bank”), on behalf of developer SSE Renewables. Located off the east coast of Scotland in the North Sea, Berwick Bank has the potential to deliver up to 4.1 GW of installed capacity, and is currently one of the largest offshore wind opportunities in the world.

What are the potential socio-economic impacts to consider in offshore renewable energy developments?

The project represents a multi-billion-pound investment, which provides a significant opportunity to support and grow the Scottish and UK offshore renewables supply chain – with potential to support thousands of direct, indirect and induced jobs across Scotland and the UK. As such, it was important to assess the potential beneficial economic effects of the project.

The level of employment which could be generated by the project has the potential to result in workforce migration, which could lead to effects on population, housing, and local services. It was therefore necessary to assess social effects associated with the project to ensure potential adverse effects were fully considered.

How we defined local study areas to assess potential socio-economics impacts

The most critical task during the early stages of the work was to identify appropriate local study areas to be considered within the assessment. In studies of this nature, it is necessary that the socio-economics local study area is linked to the selection of construction and operation ports that will support the associated supply of a range of inputs and services. These ports, and their socio-economic catchment areas, form “epicentres of impact” on economic and social receptors.

Our work was carried out prior to the publication of guidance by Marine Scotland on defining local study areas for assessing the impacts of offshore renewables. As such, we liaised with Marine Scotland via scoping responses and the Marine Analytical Unit via informal channels to ensure our methodology was aligned with their evolving expectations for assessing socio-economic effects.

To identify relavant study areas, we identified port and harbour facilities on the east coast of Scotland that would be viable options for construction and/or operation bases. Once this short list was established, we used Geographic Information System (GIS) software to quantitatively analyse socio-economic data combined with travel time radii to identify the most appropriate local study area definitions.

What socio-economic effects were identified within the onshore and offshore assessments?

Having established appropriate study areas, we assessed the potential socio-economic effects which could arise as a result of the project. These included: supporting employment and GVA across Scotland and within the identified port facility locations, including creating employment opportunities for local workers; increasing demand for short term, medium term and long term accommodation and housing from workers migrating into selected port locations; and potential impacts on the tourism and recreation sector.

Our assessment concluded the project will support existing employment through contracts placed with existing businesses, and support new employment and economic activity enabling the expansion of the offshore wind sector – which is a high policy priority. SSE Renewables has also committed to a range of activities seeking to enhance the beneficial effects identified.

Was the Berwick Bank Wind Farm application approved?

The Berwick Bank Wind Farm planning application was submitted in December 2022, with the onshore grid connection at East Lothian was consented in December 2023, and the offshore array consented in July 2025.

Through the Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 7 (AR7), SSE has successfully secured a 20-year contract for an initial 1.4 GW of capacity through Phase B of the project.

Get in touch

If you would like to discuss how Hardisty Jones can provide specialist support to help you deliver robust socio-economic inputs to a major energy infrastructure project, please contact our service lead Joshua Harding-Jones.