Ayre Offshore Wind: Caithness Stands at the Crossroads

8th May 2026

For once, Caithness is not on the periphery of a national project — we’re right at the landfall. The 1 GW Ayre Offshore Wind Farm, a floating ScotWind development by Qair, will bring its cables ashore at Keiss and feed into the new Banniskirk Hub. The turbines will sit to the north‑east of Caithness, closer to Wick than to Kirkwall.

Once operational, the project is expected to generate enough renewable electricity to power the equivalent of approximately 1.2 million UK homes, supporting national energy security and Scotland’s net zero ambitions.

And yet, as ever, the big question is whether the economic heart of the project will stay on our side of the water.

A Project That Actually Touches Caithness Soil
Unlike so many “Highland” projects that never come within 100 miles of us, Ayre physically arrives here.

Landfall: Keiss

Onshore infrastructure: Banniskirk

Planning consent: granted by Highland Council in March 2026

Timeline: construction late 2020s, operation early 2030s

For Caithness, this is rare: a major energy project that doesn’t just use our landscape as a backdrop but actually depends on it.

The Jobs Question: Wick vs Kirkwall
Qair has been careful — some would say diplomatic — in saying that both Caithness and Orkney remain under consideration for the Operations & Maintenance (O&M) base. That base is the prize:

Up to 120 long‑term jobs

Engineering, marine, logistics, technicians

Decades of stable employment

For a county that has watched Dounreay wind down, retail hollow out, and young people leave, that’s not a side issue. It’s the whole ballgame.

Why Caithness Makes Sense
Wick Harbour already runs O&M for Beatrice — a proven workforce, proven facilities.

Scrabster has deep‑water capability and a growing energy portfolio.

Gills Bay is small but strategically close to the site.

The turbines are closer to Caithness than Orkney.

The grid connection is in Caithness, not Orkney.

In any rational world, that should put us in pole position.

Why Orkney Is Still a Threat
Orkney has two things Caithness doesn’t:

A council willing to throw millions at port expansion (Hatston, Scapa Deep Water Quay).

A political machine that knows how to lobby, loudly and effectively.

But those expansions are not yet approved. If they slip, Caithness becomes the only ready‑to‑go option.

The Caithness Mood: Hope, Caution, and a Familiar Fear
Locally, there’s a quiet optimism — the kind Caithness specialises in, where nobody says it out loud in case it jinxes it. But there’s also the familiar fear: that once again, we’ll host the infrastructure while the jobs go elsewhere.

We’ve seen it before.
We’ve lived it before.
We’re tired of it.

Ayre could be different. It should be different.

What Needs to Happen Now
If Caithness wants the O&M base, we need:

Wick Harbour and Scrabster to present a united, confident case.

Highland Council to actually fight for the north, not just Inverness.

Local MSPs and MPs to make noise — real noise, not polite letters.

Qair to recognise that the community hosting the landfall deserves the long‑term benefit.

This is one of the few times Caithness has leverage. We should use it.

A Simple Truth
Ayre Offshore Wind will reshape the energy map of the north.
The only question is whether it reshapes the economy of Caithness — or whether we watch the boats sail past us to Orkney.

For once, the tide is flowing our way.
We just need to make sure we don’t let it slip out with the ebb.