First Power

Thistle Wind Partners (TWP), the developer of the 1 GW Ayre Offshore Wind Farm located 33 km east of Orkney, has set an indicative target for achieving first power to the grid in the early 2030s. In its 17 October 2023 press release announcing community information events in Caithness, TWP outlines a phased development and construction schedule that leads up to this milestone. Following the award of necessary consents, onshore infrastructure construction is expected to begin from 2028, with the offshore wind farm itself entering construction the following year. This staged programme is designed so that the offshore assets, export cables, and grid connection infrastructure can be progressively delivered and commissioned ahead of initial energisation. The pathway to first power involves connecting Ayre to the electricity transmission network in the Spittal area of Caithness. TWP proposes to bring export cables ashore in the Sinclair’s Bay area, route them underground to a dedicated TWP substation, and from there connect via further underground cables to a new SSEN Transmission substation. The expectation of first power in the early 2030s therefore reflects both the time required to secure consents and to build this coordinated onshore–offshore system. As the project is still in early development, this date window remains indicative, but it provides stakeholders and local communities with a clear sense of when Ayre is planned to begin exporting electricity to the National Grid.