Caledonia Offshore Windfarm has selected the engineering consultancy Wood Thilsted to develop the structural concept design for the 2 GW project’s turbine foundations.

The Caledonia offshore wind farm is being developed in the Moray Firth by Ocean Winds and is scheduled to be operational by 2030.

Wood Thilsted will use the ground and metocean data that has been gathered across the 429-square-kilometre site over the past two years to produce modelling for the preferred concept for the foundation designs.

The engineering team is said to also benefit from Ocean Winds’ experience on two neighbouring projects, namely the operational Moray East and under construction Moray West, which is nearing completion having recently achieved first power.

“Although we are in deeper waters, some of the soil conditions at Caledonia are very similar to Moray East, where we have used an optimised jacket design. Moray West is constructed with extra-large monopiles – which push the global industry limit on size – providing cost and efficiency benefits in fabrication”, said Mark Baxter, Caledonia Project Director.

The design work, which is planned to be completed by the end of the year, will also support Caledonia’s initial engagement with the supply chain on foundation fabrication and installation.

Onshore and offshore consents for the offshore wind project are due to be submitted in the autumn.

“We have in-depth experience of design, marshalling and installation of both jackets and monopiles in the Moray Firth: the modelling during this phase will enable us to examine various solutions and determine the best design option for the site and the environmental conditions”, added Baxter.

Ocean Winds has worked with UK-based Wood Thilsted on projects in Poland and the US.