The offshore application for the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm has been submitted to Marine Scotland.
Located 7.5km off the coast of Dounreay in Caithness, the development should be capable of providing clean energy to approximately 70,000 homes - and when complete will be the biggest of its kind in the world.
Project director Richard Copeland said: “This is a significant milestone for the project and one which takes us closer to realising the far-reaching benefits it will bring, both in terms of supporting security of energy supply for the domestic UK market and contributing to a sustainable energy mix within UK and Scotland.