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Thistle Wind Partners submits offshore plans for Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm

Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm — Thu, 07 May 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Thistle Wind Partners (TWP) has taken the next step in the development of its Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm project with the submission of its offshore consent application to the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate - Licensing and Operation Team.

This key project milestone takes TWP one step closer to realising its ambitions for this significant fixed-bottom offshore wind project which, once operational, will contribute 1GW of renewable energy to the national grid - enough to power the equivalent of more than 1.2 million households.

Bowdun is expected to support more than 700 jobs in Scotland during its five-year construction phase, alongside around 60 long-term roles through its future operations and maintenance base.

The submission of the offshore consent application means the full project is now in determination with both onshore and offshore elements under consideration. The onshore application was lodged with Aberdeenshire Council in November 2025, and together these represent a major step towards realising the project.

Ian Taylor, Bowdun Project Director, said: “Submitting our offshore consent application marks a major step forward for the Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm and reflects the significant progress made by the team to date. Bowdun has been designed not only to deliver up to 1GW of clean, reliable power, but to maximise economic value for Scotland - supporting a strong domestic supply chain and creating high-quality jobs across development, construction and long-term operations.

“We are committed to working closely with local communities, suppliers and stakeholders as the project progresses, and we see real opportunity for the north-east of Scotland to play a significant role, particularly through our planned operations and maintenance base. With the right frameworks in place, projects like Bowdun can help secure a lasting legacy for the region, accelerating the energy transition while driving investment and skills development.”

Since its establishment in 2022, TWP has successfully prepared and submitted four major consent applications across its ScotWind projects, covering both onshore and offshore elements for Bowdun and also the Ayre Offshore Wind Farm project. This achievement highlights the team’s ability to progress complex, nationally significant offshore wind developments at pace.

The application can be viewed on the Scottish Government Marine Directorate website here: Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm | marine.gov.scot

Thistle Wind Partners submits onshore plans for Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm

Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 11:00:00 GMT

A Scottish offshore wind farm, seeking to deliver a £1bn opportunity for the supply chain, has submitted its onshore planning application.

Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm, planned for 44 km off Stonehaven in North East Scotland, has submitted the planning application for planning permission in principle for the onshore infrastructure of the Project to Aberdeenshire Council.

The submission covers the elements from the landfall point near Benholm, underground cable corridor, onshore substation and proposed connection to the planned Hurlie substation at Fetteresso Forest, where the wind farm supplied power enters the National Grid.

This project milestone follows the completion of a comprehensive optioneering exercise, Environmental Impact Assessment and extensive public consultations and engagement with local communities and stakeholders in North East Scotland.

It also comes after a decision earlier this month to establish an operations and maintenance (O&M) base in North East Scotland, delivering £360m of spend and around 60 long-term, high-quality jobs.

Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm, being delivered by Thistle Wind Partners, will deliver power to more than one million homes once operational. The project’s offshore consent submission will follow in 2026.

Ian Taylor, Bowdun Project Director, said:

“Submitting our onshore application is a significant step forward for Bowdun and the region. We’ve worked closely with communities and stakeholders to shape these plans, ensuring they are responsible, clearly explained and designed to bring long-term benefits to the North East.

With our O&M investment and our award-winning supply chain programme, Bowdun aims to anchor new jobs, skills and opportunity in the region as Scotland accelerates its clean energy transition.”

Bowdun’s award-winning Supply Chain Pathways Programme aims to break down barriers for Scottish firms, including oil and gas specialists, entering the offshore wind industry, which is often dominated by major “Tier 1” contractors with established supply chains.

The project will use its partner DEME Offshore - a Tier 1 contractor with experience installing 2,500 offshore wind turbines globally - to pre-qualify local firms as suppliers. These companies will then be able to compete for work not only on Bowdun, but also on other DEME Offshore projects in the UK and internationally. The programme has involved 60 companies to-date.

Bid to unlock £1bn ScotWind project for oil and gas firms

Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 10:00:00 GMT

An initiative has been launched to unlock a £1billion offshore wind opportunity for Scottish oil and gas supply chain companies to diversify into renewables.

Bowdun, a 1GW offshore wind farm planned 27 miles off Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire from the “ScotWind” leasing round, has launched the Supply Chain Pathways Programme.

The scheme, which has 60 firms involved to date, aims to break down barriers for Scottish firms, including oil and gas specialists, entering the offshore wind industry, which is often dominated by major “Tier 1” contractors with established supply chains.

Bowdun will work with its partner DEME Offshore - a global Tier 1 contractor and recognised leader in offshore wind with their involvement in more than 40 GW of capacity - to pre-qualify local firms as suppliers.

These companies will then be able to compete for work not only on Bowdun, but also on other DEME Offshore projects in the UK and internationally.

The programme will bring suppliers into the process years earlier than usual, helping them prepare investment cases, build capability and, ultimately, win work.

Bowdun and its partners are seeking to align these suppliers with project requirements, including transport and installation and other “balance of plant” components.

The official launch was marked in Aberdeen this week (Tuesday, September 23), with an address from Deputy First Minister and Economy Secretary Kate Forbes, highlighting the opportunities for industry transition.

The pioneering approach has already been recognised at the Scottish Renewables Green Energy Supply Chain Awards earlier this year.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said:

“Offshore wind provides a once in a generation opportunity to grow Scotland’s economy and support thousands of high-quality jobs, which is why the Scottish Government has committed up to £500 million over five years to grow our country’s supply chain.

Developers have committed to invest an average of £1.5 billion per project across the 20 ScotWind projects, and we expect to see that honoured.

Thistle Wind Partners’ Supply Chain Pathways Programme is an example of the public and private sectors working together to grow our supply chain companies and help them win contracts at home and abroad. This proactive approach keeps Scotland at the forefront of global offshore wind development.”

Project Director of the Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm Ian Taylor said:

“Talk of the shift to renewables must be converted into action, delivering projects, creating jobs for local communities, and realising our national net zero ambitions.

“Bowdun aims to be a bridge between Scotland’s abundant offshore wind resource and its world-class oil and gas engineering capability. Working with DEME Offshore, this programme will help deliver value through Bowdun while supporting the supply chain to seize international opportunities.”

Once operational, Bowdun will power more than one million homes, with ambitions to invest over £1bn in the Scottish supply chain.

Bowdun Supply Chain Manager Gavin MacKay said:

“Linking local firms with a major international contractor at an early stage will allow companies to bid for work with confidence, and overcome traditional barriers to entry.

“Many firms already have the skills to deliver offshore wind projects but haven’t yet secured that crucial first contract. The Supply Chain Pathways Programme is about giving them that first step and grow into long-term players in ScotWind and beyond.”

Thistle Wind Partners submits Offshore Scoping Report for Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm

Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Thistle Wind Partners (TWP) has submitted the Offshore Scoping Report for its Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm to the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate - Licensing & Operations Team, to request a Scoping Opinion under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations. The Report provides information on the proposed offshore infrastructure and further outlines the approach to the EIA, including baseline data sources.

Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm, an approximately 1GW fixed-foundation project located 44km to the east of Stonehaven, will connect to the grid in Aberdeenshire.

2024 has already been a busy year for the project with the 24-month campaign of offshore aerial bird and marine mammal surveys completing in February and the completion of the benthic survey in May. These are key environmental baseline surveys of the array area and export cable corridor, used to support the impact assessment.

Onshore wintering bird and intertidal surveys were completed earlier in the year and ecology surveys, which will form a key part of the onshore environmental baseline assessment within the Onshore EIA, are currently ongoing.

Last week, TWP submitted its Onshore Scoping Report to Aberdeenshire Council for the onshore infrastructure associated with the Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm to request a Scoping Opinion under The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017. The Report provides information on the proposed onshore infrastructure and further outlines the approach to the Environmental Impact Assessment, including baseline data sources.

To keep stakeholders informed, TWP are holding community consultation events in Aberdeenshire between 28th and 30th October 2024. Additional pre-application consultation events, in advance of the submission for Section 36 and marine licences, are planned for 2025. TWP will seek feedback from the community with regards to the Bowdun project.

Commenting on the announcement, Project Director, Ian Taylor said: “TWP are delighted to meet this milestone for Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm, which is a key step in the consenting journey for the development of our project. We will continue to work alongside our many stakeholders in the region and will be sharing project information with the communities in Bowdun during visits to the area next month.”

Thistle Wind Partners submits Onshore Scoping Report for Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm

Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Thistle Wind Partners (TWP) has submitted its Onshore Scoping Report to Aberdeenshire Council, for the onshore infrastructure associated with its Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm to request a Scoping Opinion under The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017. The Report provides information on the proposed onshore infrastructure and further outlines the approach to the Environmental Impact Assessment, including baseline data sources. 

Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm, an approximately 1GW fixed-foundation project located 44km to the east of Stonehaven, will connect to the grid in Aberdeenshire.

The TWP team has been working through optioneering and consideration of environmental constraints, in discussions with several landowners, throughout the year to identify landfall, cable corridor and substations options. Onshore wintering bird and intertidal surveys were completed earlier in the year and ecology surveys, which will form a key part of the onshore environmental baseline assessment within the EIA, are currently ongoing.

Submission of this Onshore Scoping Report follows TWP’s submissions of both the Onshore and Offshore Scoping Reports for its Ayre Offshore Wind Farm in the first half of the year.

To keep stakeholders informed, the TWP team will be holding community consultation events in Aberdeenshire between 28th and 30th October 2024. Additional pre-application consultation events, in advance of the submission of a planning application, are planned for 2025. TWP will seek feedback from the community with regards to the Bowdun project.

Commenting on the announcement, Project Director, Ian Taylor said: “The submission of the onshore scoping report for the Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm is a very significant milestone for the project and allows us to continue engagement with the local community on the emerging cable corridors, substation and landfall. We are looking forward to meeting with the communities on Bowdun in October at our planned events in Aberdeenshire.”

Thistle Wind Partners wins Scottish Renewables’ 2025 Green Energy Supply Chain Development Award

Gavin Mackay, Supply Chain Manager — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 10:00:00 GMT

The team at Thistle Wind Partners (TWP) is thrilled to have won the Supply Chain Development Award at this year’s Scottish Renewables’ Scottish Green Energy Supply Chain Awards.

Recognising the impact of our pioneering Supply Chain Pathways Programme, the award celebrates our commitment to creating real and sustainable opportunities for Scottish businesses in the offshore wind sector.

When we began shaping the Pathways Programme, we knew that early engagement would be key. Offshore wind projects often have a long lead-in time before reaching the construction phase, and we wanted to make the most of that by getting Scottish suppliers ready for the opportunities just around the corner.

By mapping out our future requirements for the supply chain in detail, we could see clearly where local capability already exists, as well as where investment and targeted support would make the biggest difference.

TWP, our partners and suppliers are passionate about opening the door for Scottish businesses and giving them the right opportunities to grow and leverage all that comes with a successful ScotWind and global offshore wind sector.

Through linking local firms with major international contractors at an earlier stage in the development process, the programme aims to make it easier for Scottish companies to become pre-qualified suppliers to Tier 1 contractors, helping companies compete for large-scale projects with confidence. Firms that meet the required standards are added to a supplier framework, which gives them the chance to work on projects across the UK and internationally.

One of the unique aspects of the programme is the insight it gives Scottish companies into how a major Tier 1 contractor selects its suppliers. Traditionally, this process has been difficult for smaller businesses to access, but the Pathways Programme makes the requirements clear, with open channels to share benchmarks and constructive feedback. For some companies, that means understanding what they need to do to win work now. For others, it’s about planning the steps to meet those standards in the future.

Working with Scottish Enterprise and industry partners, the benefits of the programme go beyond individual companies and contracts. We’re helping to grow the number of Scottish companies able to compete in offshore wind, building skills and capabilities that will strengthen the sector for years to come.

Our award from Scottish Renewables underlines the value of strong collaboration between developers, contractors, industry bodies and government agencies in delivering long-term economic benefits. At TWP, we want to see Scottish companies not just participating but leading in projects here and abroad.