Thistle Wind Partners (TWP), a consortium involving DEME, Qair, and Aspiravi, has awarded Ramboll the contract for pre-FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) of the foundations for its 1 GW Bowdun offshore wind farm in Scotland.
The scope of work includes the substructure design for the wind turbines consisting of a base-case jacket design concept for water depths of up to 70 metres. In addition, the work will also consider various parallel geotechnical sensitivity assessments to advise on the future development of the wind farm, said TWP.
The Denmark-headquartered company will also provide offshore substation foundation concepts for the Bowdun project and TWP’s 1 GW Ayre offshore wind farm.
“Assessing the foundations in a holistic manner and with input to the overall delivery package, including fabrication and logistics, is one of our key services on the market,” said Tim Fischer , Global Executive Director Wind at Ramboll.
TWP said that the design will contribute to establishing a full design envelope for the projects and help determine the fabrication, transport, and installation requirements at a later stage. Once this work is completed, FEED and detailed design procurement is expected to commence in the spring of next year, according to TWP.
“These contract announcements demonstrate the good progress we have made on the concept designs for both of our projects. Further tenders for design and engineering support will be announced on our own website and on the North Sea Transition Authority’s Energy Pathfinder,” said Ian Taylor , Project Director at TWP.
The news follows the recent announcement by COWI that they have been awarded the contract to produce comprehensive pre-FEED studies for the onshore and offshore electrical and civil designs for both projects.
TWP started developing its projects in January 2022 after winning seabed lease options from Crown Estate Scotland for the 1 GW Ayre and the 1 GW Bowdun wind farms.
The Ayre floating wind farm is located 33 kilometres to the east of Orkney, while the Bowdun fixed-foundation project is situated 47 kilometres off the coast of Aberdeenshire.
A final investment decision for both Ayre and Bowdun is planned for 2028 if consent is achieved in 2025.