Ayre Offshore Wind Farm North East of Caithness Grid Connection Planning Application

27th August 2025

Thistle Wind Partners (TWP) has submitted a formal onshore planning application to Highland Council. It followed detailed optioneering, environmental assessments, and community consultations. The project now marks a significant milestone in advancing towards construction.

The Ayre Offshore Wind Farm, a 1 GW floating project located east of Orkney, will land at Sinclair's Bay in Caithness. From there, underground export cables will run to a new onshore TWP substation, which then connects to the grid via a substation developed by SSEN Transmission.

Up to four export cables will link the offshore site and landfall, via subsea collectors and possibly two offshore substations, per licensing documents.

The underground onshore cables are expected to span approximately 20 km and their construction projected to take around 12-18 months.

TWP has been proactive in engaging with local communities, hosting events across Caithness (e.g., in Keiss, Thurso, Halkirk, Spittal, Wick) starting in late 2023 and continuing through mid-2025.

TWP is committed to local supply chain development and has introduced a community donations scheme, being part of their goal to bring positive, lasting benefits to the Caithness and Orkney regions.

The grid connection is foundational to enabling Ayre Offshore Wind Farm to deliver its power capacity.

Progressing from scoping to consent and engineering design demonstrates strong momentum toward net-zero infrastructure in Scotland.

Projected Development & Construction Schedule
Onshore & Offshore Scoping - Completed in 2024
Planning Permission in Principle - Targeted early 2025
Final Investment Decision (FID) Expected by 2028
Onshore Infrastructure Construction - Likely from 2028
Offshore Project Construction - Beginning around 2029
First Power to Grid - Early 2030s