Updated Offshore Wind Policy Statement: island communities impact assessment

Step Three – Consultation:

• Who do you need to consult with?
• How will you carry out your consultation and in what timescales?
• What questions will you ask when considering how to address island realities?
• What information has already been gathered through consultations and what concerns have been raised previously by island communities?
• Is your consultation robust and meaningful and sufficient to comply with the Section 7 duty?

From 18 June – 13 August 2025 a public consultation on the draft uOWPS was carried out. Our consultation asked the following questions:

1. Does “up to 40GW of new offshore wind by 2035-2040” demonstrate an appropriate level of ambition for the Scottish Government? Please explain your views.

2. What additional actions do you believe should be taken by the Scottish Government, UK Government and agencies in order to realise the full potential of Scotland’s offshore wind sector?

The questions were designed to focus on whether the Scottish Government should update its Offshore Wind GW ambition. The data from the consultation was analysed with island communities in mind; however responses did not raise concerns which uniquely related to island communities.

As stated in the previous section, the Updated SMP-OWE explores the implications that offshore wind farm locations may have on communities (for ScotWind and INTOG projects). As such, it will consider any differential implications that offshore wind development may have for island communities compared to mainland communities. Should any concerns over differential impacts to island communities have been raised within our analysis, we would have reflected this in the results and notified the Updated SMP-OWE team to inform their own consultation.