Thistle Wind Partners has started seabed surveys for its 1GW Ayre floating wind farm and the 1GW Bowdun fixed bottom project off the east coast of Scotland.
G-tec is leading the first phase of the work, which is the geophysical surveying of the seabed at both sites located to the east of Orkney and off the coast of Aberdeenshire, respectively, from March to October this year.
G-tec is supported by GAC UK’s Aberdeen and Orkney offices for vessel logistics, while Cathie is providing advisory services.
Over the next seven months, the MainPort Geo survey vessel (pictured) will cover an area of almost 400 square kilometres, as it uses cutting-edge technology to collect data on the structure of the seabed at both project sites.
G-tec technical experts will conduct advanced processing of the data, which will then feed into ground modelling studies from October onwards, while metocean surveys begin around the same time.
Thistle Wind Partners’ engineering team is expected to complete their pre-FEED (front-end engineering designs) phase for the two projects by mid-2024, with a second round of geophysical and geotechnical studies planned for next year to inform the FEED for the wind farms.
The developer will also continue its two-year long bird and marine mammal studies were launched by contractor APEM in March last year.
Thistle Wind Partners project director Ian Taylor said: “We are comfortable with the pace of development of the two projects and the schedule we have in place.
“We plan to enter the construction phase in 2029, and like all ScotWind developers, we do get questions about why we have chosen a particular timeframe.
“Bearing in mind that we have a floating wind project in the mix, we are keen to leverage the learnings and enhanced designs and technologies that will be available by the end of the decade.
“There are still many technical challenges ahead for floating offshore wind. In tandem, each year gives us greater certainty that the local supply chain and port infrastructure will be ready.
“We are investing in some of the most advanced monitoring techniques for our environmental studies, such as APEM’s LiDAR technologies for measuring bird flight heights.
“Taking the time to gather the best data for our final designs ensures that our wind farms have the most harmonious relationship with marine life and other maritime industries.”
A final investment decision for both the Ayre and Bowdun projects is scheduled for 2028, subject to their consents in 2025.