Thistle Wind Partners

Thistle Wind Partners (TWP) is a new offshore wind developer, founded in 2020 by a consortium of three companies - DEME (Belgium), Qair (France) and Aspiravi (Belgium). Our founder companies develop, finance and act as contractors for a wide variety of renewable energy projects around the world.

In January 2022, Crown Estate Scotland awarded TWP two ScotWind leasing sites for offshore wind development, a highly successful result for a new player in Scotland!

Over the next decade, TWP will develop and build:

• Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm, a 1GW fixed-foundation project, located 44km off the coast of Aberdeenshire (from Stonehaven) in the E3 leasing zone (187km2 in area);

• Ayre Offshore Wind Farm, a 1GW floating-foundation project, located 36km from Kirkwall, to the east of Orkney, in the NE2 leasing zone (200km2 in area). This project will be developed in two phases so that we can take advantage of developments and learnings in floating wind installation as we go.

By mixing floating and jacket foundations, our projects represent a broad and exciting opportunity for technology developers and the local supply chain.

They will also play an important role in the North Sea energy transition, producing enough energy for more than two million households from 2033 onwards.

Offshore infrastructure

We plan to use next-generation turbines within the range 18MW to 25MW (15MW is the highest capacity per turbine today). To give an idea of the potential scale of these next-generation turbines: the blades of an 18MW turbine could sweep an area the size of Windsor Castle (50,000m2)!

The ultimate number of turbines will be defined by the final choice of design of the project. TWP is currently conducting geophysical surveys of the seabed at both sites (mapping the seabed structure). This work is a core requirement for our consenting and design processes, and is particularly critical for Scottish projects, as Scotland has a particularly challenging seabed due to its glacial pre-history.

For our environmental assessments, contractor APEM is also conducting two years’ worth of aerial surveys of marine mammals and seabirds using LiDAR tracking (accurate to within 10cm accuracy). Offshore environmental, metocean, geotechnical and a range of other surveys will continue over the coming years.

The offshore consenting applications for both projects will be submitted to the Marine Scotland Directorate in 2025 (which essentially grants the projects planning permission); construction will commence in 2029; and the sites will be energised in 2032/2033.

Onshore infrastructure

Onshore infrastructure is needed to support the connections from the offshore wind farms to the national grid.

Each wind farm will require underground cabling running from the shoreline to a substation (200 x 300m2) onshore. TWP is currently in a queue of ScotWind developers seeking Grid Connection Points (GCP) from National Grid through the HND (Holistic Network Design) Follow-Up process, but we expect to receive final confirmations of our GCPs this August, with onshore planning applications submitted once community feedback is engaged.

The GCPs (with substations) are likely to be in Spittal (Caithness) for Ayre and in Aberdeenshire (between Stonehaven and Montrose) for Bowdun. While TWP will not be using overhead pylons, our wind farms will need to connect to the upgraded network being proposed by SSEN currently.

TWP, as a new developer, is planning to engage local communities in design from the start. We are planning how we can reach out to communities to put forward the benefits of offshore wind and its potential for Scotland’s economic future, as well as the need to build renewable infrastructure as part of the global energy transition.

Supply Chain

TWP has published a Supply Chain Development Outlook for both of its projects on the website (they are also published on the Crown Estate Scotland website). You can view these by visiting www.twp.scot and www/twp.scot/about-us/suppliers.

TWP’s ambition is to spend £2.4 million in the Scottish supply chain across both projects. This ambition is shared by DEME Offshore, TWP’s EPCI (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation) contractor, which is working with Supply Chain Manager Gavin MacKay to maximise opportunity for local businesses.

Supporting Scotland’s Future Workforce

TWP is one of four ScotWind developers providing funding and support to a STEM Outreach Programme for early years, which is being implemented by the University of Highlands and Islands.

We are also providing funding to each of our project regions (Orkney, Caithness and Aberdeenshire) through a dedicated £15,000 pot per year, which is provided to local community councils and roundtables to identify local initiatives related to STEM, maritime, and young people.

For example, in Orkney, we announced the gifting of a training vessel to the UHI Orkney in September.

Our offshore wind farms will take almost a decade to scope out, consent and build. We have set targets and ambitions for engaging Scotland's supply chain throughout the development and construction stages, helping to accelerate the transition of jobs from oil and gas to renewables.

We are also looking ahead to the working lives of our wind farms, from their commissioning in 2032 to their eventual decommissioning, repowering, or lifetime extension (in 2060 or beyond, depending upon technological advancements).

Who will develop, manufacture and operate the technologies we will need to manage these major maritime assets? Who will service and maintain the assets? And who will help to ensure we operate in harmony with a thriving maritime environment?

Many of those who will be vital to the success of our wind farms are now in Scotland's nursery and primary schools. Ensuring that a wide diversity of young people in Scotland have the confidence to study and qualify in STEM disciplines, as well as being equipped to succeed, is vital for the future of our wind farms as well as Scotland's energy transition.

Our Approach to the Marine Environment

The selection of sites for our offshore wind farms was informed by a detailed series of environmental, engineering, and feasibility studies in 2020. These assessments will continue up to 2025, widening to include metocean, geophysical and geotechnical studies to inform our foundation and wind turbine selection. Ornithological, benthic and commercial fishing studies will, likewise, feed into our Environmental Impact Assessment.

Our design and installation choices are driven by our pledges to:

1. Minimise impact, when possible, on marine life through detailed surveys of marine mammals, seabirds and benthic habitats at the two sites and integrating risk mitigation into our site designs, supported by independent environmental consultancy RPS and APEM. APEM’s innovative use of LiDAR technology provides us with data on bird flight heights to 10cm accuracy.

2. Work collaboratively and sympathetically with other maritime industries, supported by a specialist fisheries liaison team at Blackhall & Powis.