Installation of all 54 monopile foundations for the Inch Cape offshore wind farm has been completed, marking a key milestone in the construction of the 1.08 GW project off Scotland's east coast.
The monopiles were installed by Jan De Nul's heavy-lift vessel Les Alizés, which has been transporting foundations from the Port of Leith in Edinburgh since the first installation in December 2025.
The monopiles, which support the project's 72 Vestas 15 MW wind turbines, have diameters of 11.5 meters, lengths of up to 102 meters and weigh around 2,300 tonnes each, according to the project developer.
The installation campaign used Les Alizés' 5,000-tonne crane together with specialized lifting and piling equipment supplied by IQIP. Geotechnical support was provided by Cathie.
The project said mitigation measures were implemented during piling activities to protect marine mammals, including acoustic deterrent devices, soft-start piling procedures and a noise monitoring program.
Inch Cape comprises 54 monopiles with transition pieces and 18 jacket foundations supported by 54 pin piles. Offshore construction activities scheduled for the remainder of 2026 include installation of transition pieces, jacket foundations, array cables and the first wind turbines.
The project remains on track for first power in late 2026 and full commercial operations in 2027.
Inch Cape is owned equally by ESB and Red Rock Renewables.
“The scale of Inch Cape’s monopiles is leading-edge for the industry and to reach this milestone the project has overcome significant challenges.
“This milestone is the culmination of extraordinary efforts by many contractors including SLPE for the engineering design, monopile suppliers CWHI and Dajin for the fabrication and delivery and Forth Projects for its offloading and marshalling work,” said John Hill, Project Director at Inch Cape.
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