Cabling milestone at giant wind farm that can power half of Scotland

The second of two export cables was installed in three equal sections by Enshore Subsea using a cable laying vessel operating out of the Port of Blyth in Northumberland. It required two offshore joints which were carried out by jointing specialists onboard Normand Cutter and was buried in the seabed.

The two parallel cables will transmit power from the vast 1.1-gigawatt wind farm’s offshore substation platform to its new onshore substation at Cockenzie, East Lothian, then onto the national grid. The cables will be energised over the coming weeks in advance of first power toward the end of this year.

Inch Cape is owned in a 50/50 equal joint venture by ESB and Red Rock Renewables, and once complete will generate almost 5 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy each year - or enough to power half of the homes in Scotland.

The wind farm is located some 15 kilometres from the Angus coast in the North Sea, on a site covering around 150 square kilometres. It will feature 72 wind turbines and a single offshore substation.

The power it generates will be transported 85 kilometres via twin export cables to a new substation being built at the site of the former Cockenzie Power Station. From there it will enter the national grid at an existing connection point.

John Hill, Inch Cape project director, said: “The completion of this crucial link between the offshore and onshore substations is another major achievement for the project and testament to the excellent collaboration between the Inch Cape team and our contractors, particularly Orient Cable and Enshore Subsea.

“The successful finalisation of this scope builds on our solid progress as we now enter the next phases of offshore construction.”

Pierre Boyde, Enshore Subsea’s chief executive, said: “We’re proud of the Enshore Subsea team whose attention to detail and commitment, alongside the support of our project partners, have enabled us to successfully deliver this major milestone.

“It demonstrates Enshore’s ability to fast-track complex projects, our strength in shallow-water operations, and the excellent performance of our latest hybrid trencher, purpose-built for the project. It has been a privilege to work with the Inch Cape team and we look forward to continuing that collaboration as the project goes into its important final steps,” he added.

The cable was manufactured by Ningbo Orient Wires & Cables and is among the largest AC export cables in the world, weighing almost 140 tonnes per kilometre. A total of 170 kilometres of cable has been installed.

Giant yellow towers that will be used to support the wind turbines at the Inch Cape site have been dominating the skyline at Leith Docks, close to Edinburgh, for several months. The three-legged lattice tower structures, known as jacket foundations, are up to 83 metres tall each and they weigh between 2,050 and 2,250 tonnes.

Giant yellow towers dominating Edinburgh's skyline are due to be removed