Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm has reached a major milestone in its offshore construction phase with the completed installation of all monopile foundations for the project's wind turbines.

A total of 54 giant monopiles have been successfully positioned in the North Sea off the Scottish coast. Since the installation campaign commenced in December, Jan De Nul's heavy lift vessel Les Alizés has been operating between the site and a new purpose-built berth at the Port of Leith in Edinburgh, transporting and installing five monopiles per voyage.

The newly installed monopiles represent leading-edge dimensions for the offshore wind sector, featuring diameters of 11.5 metres, lengths of up to 102 metres, and individual weights of approximately 2,300 tonnes. The engineering design was executed by SLPE, with fabrication and delivery handled by suppliers CWHI and Dajin, and offloading and marshalling coordinated by Forth Projects.

To manage the installation of these heavy, next-generation monopiles within complex seabed ground conditions, Les Alizés utilised a 5,000-tonne crane with a 160-metre maximum reach, an IQIP pile lifting tool, and an IQIP hydraulic impact hammer. Geotechnical analysis and risk mitigation were provided by Geowynd, with support from Cathie. Marine mammal protection measures, including acoustic deterrent devices, soft-start piling protocols, and an active noise monitoring programme, were enforced throughout the campaign.

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In addition to the 54 monopiles with transition pieces, the completed Inch Cape development will feature 18 jacket foundations with 54 pin piles to support a total of 72 Vestas 15MW turbines. A workforce of approximately 100 personnel remains active at the Port of Leith to load out the remaining components following completion works, supported by Global Energy Solutions.

The Les Alizés vessel was secured via a long-term charter with RWE, which leased the ship to the Inch Cape project between its own construction schedules. Upcoming offshore work for the remainder of the year will include the installation of transition pieces, jacket foundations, array cables, the final sections of the second export cable, and the initial wind turbines.

Owned via a 50/50 joint venture between ESB and Red Rock Renewables, the project remains on schedule to generate first power in late 2026, with full commercial operations targeted for 2027.

Inch Cape Project Director John Hill said: "The installation of all our monopiles is a huge achievement for the Inch Cape team and confirmation of the project's momentum as we continue an extremely busy period of offshore construction activity.

"The scale of Inch Cape's monopiles is leading-edge for the industry and to reach this milestone the project has overcome significant challenges. These are amongst the largest ever monopiles to be installed for an offshore wind farm.

"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."