The Bowdun offshore wind farm, which will be built on a 187km2 area of seabed, approximately 44km from Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, is expected to generate clean energy to power over 1.2 million households

Bowdun offshore wind farm

TWP awards foundation design contract for Bowdun offshore wind farm to Ramboll. (Credit: Qair)

Danish engineering and consultancy company Ramboll has secured a contract for pre-front-end engineering design (pre-FEED) of the foundations for the 1GW Bowdun offshore wind project in Scotland from Thistle Wind Partners (TWP).

Thistle Wind Partners is a consortium comprising DEME, Qair, and Aspiravi. It is engaged in the development of Scottish offshore wind projects.

Under the terms of the pre-FEED contract, Ramboll will provide substructure design for the wind turbine generators (WTGs) for the Bowdun offshore wind project. The WTGs will feature a base case jacket design concept for water depths up to 70m.

The Danish company’s scope of work also involves studying multiple parallel geotechnical sensitivity assessments to advise on the future development of the Scottish offshore wind project.

Besides, Ramboll will deliver offshore substation foundation concepts for the Bowdun offshore wind project and Thistle Wind Partners’ Ayre offshore wind farm in Scotland.

Ramboll wind global executive director Tim Fischer said: “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.

“We look forward to applying these skills through our local UK team of experts and to collaborating with our project partners to bring this exciting project forward.”

According to Thistle Wind Partners, the design will support the formation of a full design envelope for the projects as well as contribute to the determination of the fabrication, transportation, and installation requirements at a later stage.

Upon the completion of the work, FEED and detailed design procurement is anticipated to begin next year.

Thistle Wind Partners project director Ian Taylor said: “These contract announcements demonstrate the good progress we have made on the concept designs for both of our projects.”

The Bowdun offshore wind farm will be built on a 187km2 area of seabed. The project site is approximately 44km from Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire.

Once operational, the offshore wind facility is expected to generate clean energy to power over 1.2 million households.

Construction of the Bowdun project is slated to commence in 2029 with first power expected to be produced from 2032.