Shipping consultancy Nash Maritime has been chosen to undertake a package of shipping and navigation studies for the Ayre and Bowdun offshore wind farms – two ScotWind projects being developed by Thistle Wind Partners (TWP).
Ayre, a floating foundation project, will be located 33km from the nearest inhabited point on Orkney, Deerness, and 36km from Kirkwall. The site is in the NE2 leasing zone, which covers an area of 200 square kilometres.
The wind farm will be developed in two phases, ensuring that learnings on floating foundation installation from phase 1 (2029) are taken through to phase 2 (from 2030).
Bowdun, a jacket-type fixed foundation project, is located 44km off the coast of Aberdeenshire in the E3 leasing zone, which covers an area of 187 square kilometres.
Nash Maritime is part of the team working on the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for the two offshore wind farms under TWP’s primary consenting consultancy RPS.
Nash was also part of the team that helped secure the leases for TWP’s projects from Crown Estate Scotland at the ScotWind bid stage.
“We are delighted to continue supporting TWP as they move into the consenting phase of these two offshore wind developments,” said Nash Maritime co-founder Jamie Holmes.
“Safety of navigation is a key consideration throughout any offshore development’s lifecycle,” Holmes added.
The company will be providing input to project development activities, as well as undertaking the navigation risk assessments associated with the EIA, which also includes summer and winter vessel traffic surveys.
TWP project director Ian Taylor said: “We are looking forward to continuing our collaboration with Nash Maritime.
“It is important to us that we work with innovative UK businesses throughout our project lifecycle. Nash is supporting us in our commitment to work collaboratively with the shipping and other maritime industries.”
The EIA is expected to be submitted in 2025 and both wind farms are expected to be operational by 2033.