Magnora Offshore Wind is developing the ScotWind N3 area, called Talisk Offshore Wind Project. The area is situated in the north-western part of Scotland, 35 kilometres offshore from Western Isles.

Why Talisk?

The name of the project shall reflect the proud history of the Isle of Lewis with the discovery of the Isle of Lewis Chessmen. ‘Taileasg’ is the local native Gaelic word for chess, and this is phonetically pronounced ‘Taleeshk’. A certain compromise to enable non-native speakers of English to produce a voicing more closely resembling the Gaelic language has led to the spelling ‘Talisk’.

Isle of Lewis chessmen

In 1831, the Isle of Lewis chessmen were discovered. A full set was found buried in a chest in the sand. The chess pieces were found on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, but it’s not certain where they were from or how they got to the island. However, a popular theory is that they were made in Trondheim in western Norway around 1150–1200. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, Trondheim was a centre for walrus ivory carving in the Middle Ages; secondly, a fragment of a queen piece in a similar style was found in a local church; and finally, the decoration on the Chessmen’s thrones resemble carvings in medieval Norwegian churches. (Source: British Museum).

“I am excited to see a link to the local area with the name of this development. There is a long standing affinity between the communities of Norway and the Western Isles and that link is demonstrated through the discovery of Norwegian chessmen at Uig in the Isle of Lewis. We have named our development to reflect this close historical association and look forward to delivering benefit to the local community.” 

Geir Birkeland – Project Director for Talisk Floating Offshore Wind Project.