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 Bowdun project.
Ramboll, a global engineering and consultancy company, will take the foundation concepts for TWP’s 1 GW Bowdun Offshore Wind Project to the next stage as the project progresses its pre-FEEDs throughout this year.
The scope of work includes the substructure design for the Wind Turbine Generators (WTG), consisting of a base case jacket design concept for water depths up to 70 meters.
In addition, the work will also consider various parallel geotechnical sensitivity assessments to advise on the future development of the wind farm. Ramboll will also provide offshore substation foundation concepts for the Bowdun project and TWP’s Ayre Offshore Wind Farm.
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.
The news comes fast on the heels of 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 Offshore Wind Farm (off the coast of Orkney) and the 1 GW Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm (off the Aberdeenshire coast).
“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.
“Kick-off meetings for both contracts have taken place at our headquarters in Edinburgh over the past month, and we look forward to expanding our network of suppliers as the year progresses,” said Ian Taylor, Project Director at TWP.
“We are excited that TWP has selected Ramboll for this key development scope of the Bowdun Offshore Wind Project. 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,” added Tim Fischer, Global Executive Director Wind at Ramboll.