Most onshore wind projects don’t fail because of the engineering. They fail, or slip by months and lose money, because of the land underneath them: an owner nobody identified, a delivery route that turns out to run through someone’s farmyard, an agreement left too late and signed on the developer’s back foot.
None of that is unpredictable. It’s just easy to miss if you’re not looking for it early enough. Our new Onshore Wind brochure, which you can read in full below, is built around exactly that: finding land risk before it finds you.
Here’s the shape of it.
First, is the land even viable?
Before a project goes anywhere, our GIS team runs it through a two-stage suitability model: ruling out land with hard constraints, then ranking what’s left by risk and suitability. It’s the difference between spending months on a site that was never viable and knowing that on day one.
Next, who actually owns it?
This is land referencing: searching HMLR, the Scottish Land Register, the General Register of Sasines and the Crofting Register, and confirming ownership and current contact details for everyone with an interest. Where land is unregistered, which happens more than people expect, it means site visits and door knocking. There’s no shortcut, and skipping it is how ownership disputes surface halfway through construction instead of before it.
It’s a pleasure working with the Blackhall & Powis Geospatial team. Whether it be bespoke modelling to assist our search for sites or robust land referencing to identify landowners, the team consistently deliver to a high standard and are always on hand to help. It’s been particularly impressive to see their adoption of innovation and automation to enable them to provide invaluable national scale insights into land.
After that, can you actually get a turbine there?
Turbine components are abnormal loads, and the delivery route rarely sits entirely on the developer’s own land. If you wait too long, third-party agreements for that route get expensive fast: it’s not uncommon to see developers agree to eye-catching, market-shifting terms to protect a delivery date. Our Route to Delivery process works through this in ten defined stages, or “pinch points”, starting with swept path analysis and ending in signed option and lease agreements, so the negotiation happens on your terms and your timeline, not under pressure.
It’s supported 22 wind farm projects across Scotland, negotiated on hundreds of pinch points, and backed a pipeline of 1.4GW of wind generation over nine years.
And finally, before anyone signs, invests, or buys
For developers, investors and asset owners, this all comes together as due diligence: reviewing titles, option agreements and leases for gaps or terms outside market expectations, checking access and grid rights against what’s actually on the ground, and delivering a RAG-rated view of what could still go wrong. It’s the same question as everything above it, just asked at the point of committing capital: has the land risk actually been dealt with, or has it just not surfaced yet?
“Blackhall and Powis have supported us for many years, from site organisation to the acquisition of land rights. Their unmatched knowledge of, and reach within, the UK market... has without doubt played a key role in our successes.”
Land risk doesn’t announce itself at any of these stages. It just sits there until somebody goes looking, and the projects that get built on time are usually the ones where somebody did.
Read the full brochure
Our brochure below covers all of this in more detail, including our full development constraints methodology and site origination work.
If you’d rather talk it through in person, we’re at Stand D14 at the Scottish Onshore Wind Conference today and tomorrow.
The water sector is entering a major period of investment over the next few years. With a potential £104bn programme across England and Wales and Scottish Water delivering a £6bn+ investment cycle, the scale of projects to be built, upgraded and maintained is huge.
It’s exciting, but water companies will be under significant pressure to deliver on time and on budget. Working with the right partners will be key, and that’s where we come in. Our water service has the depth of experience and expertise to support this transformation in the water industry over the coming years.
Diving into the challenge
At B&P, we don’t shy away from a challenge, instead, we dive right in. We get under the surface, embedding ourselves in projects to work in partnership with our clients from early-stage strategy all the way through to project construction.
We know the biggest challenge for water projects is land. Major infrastructure projects stall when land can’t be accessed, negotiations drag on or complex title issues emerge halfway through a programme. Our whole approach is built around solving these problems to keep projects moving.
How we keep water projects flowing
We head all of this off at the outset with detailed land referencing and GIS modelling to identify and mitigate access issues and establish a detailed land strategy.
At the heart of our approach is our extensive expertise in stakeholder engagement and negotiation. We understand how to build and maintain relationships with the right people – the landowners, planning authorities, and statutory body stakeholders. Being a specialist third party, we can engage on behalf of water companies in a way that’s constructive and independent – often making conversations easier and reaching agreements more quickly than if the client were negotiating directly.
Our core service brings together:
- GIS and land referencing
- Land acquisition
- Rights negotiation and compensation claims
- Stakeholder engagement
- Project management
- Valuation
- DCO and CPO support for larger programmes
As well as a dedicated team with deep experience in working with water companies across the whole of the UK, B&P has an extensive background in utilities, energy and renewables projects.
An agile approach across the UK
With an agile team and offices across the UK, we’re well-positioned to support projects in England, Wales and Scotland. We’re also building a network of strategic partnerships so we can easily and quickly scale up to support the biggest programmes in the sector.
If you have a water sector project on the horizon, no matter the scale, we’d love to hear from you.
Contact us
Gill Froud, Land Assembly Director: Gill.Froud@blackhallpowis.com
Linda Turner, Director of Water Infrastructure: Linda.Turner@blackhallpowis.com
Not content with our expansion into England and Wales, Blackhall and Powis is growing its operations internationally too.
It’s an exciting time with the business developing in a number of areas, but the appointment of a Director of International Development and a Director of Research, along with the establishment of our new office in the UAE, marks a big step in our strategic mission to support the energy and infrastructure both at home and abroad.
Coming on board to head up our international operations is the highly experienced and well-connected Pete Gettinby, formerly of RSK.
Pete’s extensive experience in the green energy and infrastructure sector, combined with his detailed knowledge of the overseas market, will be a huge asset to our business and our clients.
Having worked for the last few years in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Pete brings with him a wealth of established contracts and potential projects. Already based in Dubai, over the last 12 months he’s helped identify over £350million of potential projects in the region.
Pete is joined by David Cooper as Director of Research. David has an extensive geospatial and interdisciplinary background, having completed his PhD in geosciences from the University of Edinburgh and teaching on their master’s programme in Geographical Information Science. David has published research utilising environmental modelling across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, drone surveying within Eurasia, and zoological analysis within the UK.
David has worked with Blackhall & Powis for a number of years, implementing bespoke GIS models for the renewable energy sector and leading international interdisciplinary research projects for our clients.
Cementing our overseas presence is a progressive step from the international projects we already completed or have underway in Iraq, the USA, Africa and Malaysia.
We’ll be offering all of our core services to international clients and projects with a particular focus on geospatial services and marine and offshore infrastructure support. We have identified a need for the creation of spatial data in difficult to access, hazardous, and data-deficient environments, and are therefore offering satellite remote sensing integration into our geospatial workflows.
In addition to growing our own operations overseas, we’ll be offering external consultancy services to support international development for other businesses in the energy and infrastructure sectors.
This will make use of the excellent network Pete has already established. In particular, strong links to the Energy Industries Council and Scottish Development International, both of which provide great support to our industry.
Pete said: “This is the right progressive step to take the offering and experience of B&P further afield and to use our expertise and contacts to help other companies who are looking for these services in this booming region. I’m excited to grow B&P internationally and to help other businesses in our sector grow.”
As the UK accelerates its shift toward renewable energy, the role of land referencing has never been more critical. From wind farms and solar arrays to grid infrastructure and battery storage, every energy project begins with one foundational question: who owns the land?
Land referencing provides the answer – with precision, transparency, and legal certainty. It’s the quiet force behind Development Consent Orders (DCOs), Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs), and infrastructure planning. And in the energy sector, where timelines are tight and stakeholder engagement is essential, it’s the difference between momentum and delay.
How Far We’ve Come
Land referencing has evolved dramatically in recent years. What was once a paper-heavy, manually intensive process is now a sophisticated blend of legal insight, stakeholder engagement, and digital mapping. Today’s referencing teams operate at the intersection of GIS, planning law, and data management—delivering real-time insights that shape infrastructure strategy from day one.
Modern referencing doesn’t just identify landowners—it enables early access for surveys, supports risk mitigation, and ensures that stakeholders are consulted with clarity and care. It’s become a strategic function, not just a technical one.
At Blackhall & Powis, we’ve embraced this evolution. Our team has supported over 150 renewable energy projects across the UK, working with leading developers including Ørsted, Vattenfall, Statkraft, SSE, and Scottish Power. From land assembly and stakeholder engagement to mapping and planning support, we offer a one-stop-shop for infrastructure delivery—tailored to the unique demands of the energy transition.
Looking Ahead: SoLR Land With Certainty Conference
We’re proud to sponsor the upcoming SoLR Land With Certainty Conference, taking place on 18th September 2025 in London. Hosted by the Society of Land Referencers (SoLR), this event brings together professionals from across the UK to explore best practices, emerging technologies, and the evolving role of land referencing in national infrastructure.
The programme promises updates on ethical standards and GIS innovation to the future of referencing in energy and transport. We are looking forward to meeting peers, sharing insights, and shape the future of our industry.
Our team is looking forward to attending, learning, and contributing to the conversation. As the energy transition gathers pace, we believe land referencing must be recognised not just as a technical function—but as a strategic enabler of change.
See you in London.