West of Orkney
Located ~30km off west coast of Orkney and ~25km from north Sutherland. First ScotWind project with full consents.
Status
On Holdlifecycle stage
FragileHafrok completion outlook
Ownership
Location
United KingdomNortheast Atlantic
Technology
Capacity
2,000 MW ◇
Turbines
133 ◇
Foundation
Monopile ◇
Site & conditions
Site rights
Seabed rights held ∴
Origination
ScotWind Leasing · 2022 ·
Water depth
50–96 m ≈
Distance from shore
30 km ◇
Wind speed
10.8 m/s @ 150 m ≈
Revenue & grid
Offtake
—
Grid
Applied ◇
Connection
TEC application at Banniskirk 400kV substation ◇
Schedule
FID
Not taken
COD · Hafrok
—
Delivery outlook modelled by Hafrok · calibrated on delivered projects
—
on hold — no credible date; the chart shows when a restarted project might complete
Chance of delivery
≈13%
estimated chance this project reaches commercial operation
Projects put on hold complete ≈15% of the time on Hafrok's record. This one sits below that: a very large build, technical complexity and no offtake contract yet. Only a restart would change that — there is no dated schedule to judge against.
COD outlook
If it completes, when — Hafrok’s probability by year (teal)
| Year | Probability |
|---|---|
| 2030 | 20.0% |
| 2031 | 20.0% |
| 2032 | 20.0% |
| 2033 | 20.0% |
| 2034 | 20.0% |
How Hafrok got this date
1
On hold — no dated schedule
The project is recorded as On Hold, so no sequence of milestones can be trusted. Hafrok publishes no expected year; the chart instead spreads the remaining chance of completion over the years a restarted project might finish in.
2
Chance of delivery — separate from timing
Start from the share of On Hold projects that went on to complete — ≈15%, measured on Hafrok's record of delivered and abandoned projects, with an allowance held back where that record cannot yet speak (projects still unresolved, changed market conditions). Historically only a minority of projects put on hold returned to delivery — the estimate reflects that. Then adjust for this project's own evidence — offtake, market, size, technical complexity — to ≈13%, which rates it
Fragile on Hafrok's four-step delivery scale (Delivering · Expected · Prospective · Fragile).Project timeline & ownership verified milestones on the spine · ownership from Hafrok’s transactions record
Origination · 2022-01
ScotWind Leasing
- Awarded to
- Offshore Wind Power Limited
- Basis
- seabed award
Founding JV · 2022-01
TotalEnergies · Green Investment Group · RIDG — On 17 January 2022, Crown Estate Scotland announced in the ScotWind leasing round that a consortium comprising TotalEnergies (38.25%), Macquarie's Green Investment Group (GIG) (46.75%), and RIDG (Renewable Infrastructure Development Group, a Scottish offshore wind developer) (15%) had been awarded the right to develop a 2 GW offshore wind farm in the N1 area — approximately 30 km west of Orkney, off the north-west coast of Scotland. The project is known as the West of Orkney Windfarm (WoW). The three parties had previously announced their intention to jointly bid in the ScotWind round in 2021. In April 2022, Macquarie launched Corio Generation as a specialist offshore wind business spun out of GIG; Corio assumed GIG's 46.75% stake in the West of Orkney Windfarm consortium. This record treats the JV formation as announced in January 2022 (ScotWind award) and the Corio rebranding as an organisational restructuring rather than a new M&A event (no change in effective ownership; GIG/Corio is still Macquarie-owned). The project received full planning consent in June 2025 — the first ScotWind project to do so. Data confidence: HIGH — stake percentages confirmed by TotalEnergies, GIG, and WoW press releases; deal structure confirmed.
Evidence
- totalenergies.com — Offshore wind: TotalEnergies, Green Investment Group and RID ↗ 2022-01 ◆ held
- greeninvestmentgroup.com — Green Investment Group, TotalEnergies and RIDG secure ScotWind leasing rights to develop the 2 GW West of Orkney Windfarm ↗ 2022-01 ◆ held
- westoforkney.com — Partners secure leasing rights for West of Orkney Windfarm :: Wow ↗ 2022-01 ◆ held
- coriogeneration.com — West of Orkney agreement is the first for newly launched Corio Generation ↗ 2022-01 ◆ held
- offshoreWIND.biz — West of Orkney Windfarm First ScotWind Project to Gain Full Consent ↗ 2022-01 ◆ held
From the auction results — the round that created the project; founding JV from Hafrok’s transactions record.
Dashed tick marks today (9 Sep 2026). The teal diamond on the spine is origination — the seabed award or round that created the project. Every other ownership event lives in the band below: one station per recorded deal, dated at its label, in deal order rather than to calendar scale. Secondary trades appear only at the interchanges; grey lines are parties whose entry or exit Hafrok’s record does not hold.
Revenue & offtake route to market — open
No offtake secured — route to market open
The routes describe what exists in this market — not a prediction of which the project will take. Timing math for the auction gate lives in the delivery outlook above.
CfD allocation round
The UK's principal route — a 15-year, CPI-indexed, two-sided CfD awarded in annual competitive rounds.
Next visible round · from the auction calendar
CfD Allocation Round 8 ◇
AR8 confirmed (gov update, Mar 2026) to OPEN July 2026 — brought forward from the earlier mid/late-2026 expectation
Corporate PPA
Bilateral long-term offtake with corporate buyers; can cover part of output alongside or ahead of a CfD.
Merchant
Uncontracted sale into the wholesale market — no price floor, full exposure to power prices.
Installation how the build is going · from satellite counts and Hafrok’s registers
Installation not started
nothing to count yet: the satellite tracker begins when offshore construction does
Installation · on record
StageOn Hold
Offshore constructionnot started
Expected start of operationnot stated
Construction ports
PortScapa Flow Deep Water Quay ◇
Sources & verification
2/14 fields verified · rests on 13 sources (4 primary) · ◆ 6 documents held
◆Verified≈Modelled◇Sourced∴Inferred⌁Convention○Unverified∅No source·Derived
Numbers are stable citation ids — grouped by source class, so they are not consecutive.
Regulator3
[2]
Marine Scotland (Scottish Government)2025-06-27◆ West of Orkney Windfarm | marine.gov.sco…
"Section 36 Consent - Construction and Operation of Offshore Generating Station and Offshore Transmission Infrastructure - West of Orkney Windfarm - West of Hoy, Orkney ... Renewables - Wind ... 2025-…
supportsConsentConsent granted
[11]
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026-05-06◆ Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD…
“REPD Q1 2026 quarterly extract — Ref ID 10772: Site Name "West of Orkney Wind Farm", Development Status "Awaiting Construction", Installed Capacity 2000 MWelec, Operator "Total Energies / RIDG"”
supportsRegister entry
[13]
Scottish Government Marine Directorate (MD-LOT)2026-08-23◆ Scottish MD-LOT marine projects register…
“Register row "West of Orkney Windfarm" (key ml/west-orkney-wind-farm): Application stage "Licence", type "Renewables - Wind".”
supportsRegister entry
Operator2
[1]
West of Orkney Windfarm (Offshore Wind Power Ltd)2025
“West of Orkney Windfarm ... 2,000 MW ... Target first generation: 2029 ... up to 125 fixed-foundation turbines ... Located approximately 30 km west of Orkney and 25 km north of Sutherland coast.”
supportsFirst powerTurbinesTotal capacityFoundationStatus+3 more
[12]
National Energy System Operator (NESO)2026-07-21◆ NESO Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) R…
“NESO TEC Register, edition 21 July 2026 - PRO-000568-1: "OWPL Windfarm", Status "Scoping", MW Connected 0, Effective From 2029-12-31, Customer "OFFSHORE WIND POWER LIMITED"; PRO-000568-2: "OWPL Windfa…”
supportsRegister entry
Auction pipeline1
[14]
DESNZ (gov.uk)2026◆ govuk-cfd-ar8
gov.uk AR8 collection — Allocation Framework, statutory framework and CIB documents published ahead of the round.
supportsCfD Allocation Round 8
Trade press7
[3]
Offshore Wind (offshorewind.biz)2025-06-30
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsTurbinesTotal capacityDistance from shore
[5]
John o' Groat Journal2026
“The 2 GW West of Orkney Windfarm has been paused by TotalEnergies due to transmission charge obstacles. Development requires securing a Contract for Difference (CfD)... The consortium states transmiss…”
supportsBackground
[6]
ION Analytics (Infralogic)2026-03-02
Press report — cited, not quoted; read it at the source link.
supportsBackground
[7]
Green Investment Group2022◆ Green Investment Group, TotalEnergies an…
supportsowneroperator
[8]
[9]
[10]