Offshore Wind Consultants (OWC) and Empire Engineering have been selected by Thistle Wind Partners (TWP) to provide owner’s engineering services for the Ayre and Bowdun offshore wind projects in Scotland, which together aim to deliver 2 gigawatts (GW) of capacity.
OWC will lead three technical packages across the projects, focusing on wind turbines, wind resource and layouts, and cables, civils and electricals. The firm will also provide overall project management as owner’s engineer, with work delivered by a multidisciplinary team based in Glasgow and supported by ABL for installation activities.
Empire Engineering will oversee the foundation engineering scope for both sites, which includes concept selection, design documentation review, benchmarking, and bankability assessments. The work will cover both fixed and floating foundation technologies.
“These projects present differing design requirements across floating and fixed-foundation technologies,” said Lee Goulding, engineering and technical director at TWP. “The appointments support the delivery of 2GW of capacity across two technically distinct projects.”
The 1GW Ayre project is a floating wind farm located 33 kilometres off the coast of Orkney, covering 200 square kilometres. Bowdun, also 1GW, is a bottom-fixed development 44 kilometres off Aberdeen, spanning 187 square kilometres.
Empire Engineering’s head of floating wind, Benoit Briere, said the team is “proud to support projects that address Scotland’s energy transition goals.”
Kate Johanessen, OWC’s country manager in Scotland, added: “It’s our mission to support the holistic optimisation of the project design and delivery strategy from the pre-FEED stage towards implementation.”
The appointments mark a step forward in advancing Scotland’s offshore wind ambitions, with the Ayre and Bowdun projects expected to contribute significantly to national renewable energy targets.
