Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm has completed the installation of all 54 monopile foundations at its project site in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. Installation work began in December 2025, with Jan De Nul's heavy-lift vessel Les Alizés transporting monopiles from the Port of Leith in Edinburgh and installing them across the site.
The monopiles have diameters of 11.5 metres, lengths of up to 102 metres and weights of approximately 2,300 tonnes. Les Alizés used a 5,000-tonne crane, together with specialised lifting and piling equipment supplied by IQIP, to install the foundations.
Environmental mitigation measures were implemented during piling operations to protect marine mammals, including the use of acoustic deterrent devices, soft-start procedures and a noise monitoring programme.
In addition to the 54 monopiles and transition pieces, the project will include 18 jacket foundations secured by 54 pin piles. Once completed, the wind farm will comprise 72 Vestas 15 MW turbines.
Around 100 personnel continue to support offshore construction activities from the Port of Leith, where remaining components are being prepared for installation with support from Global Energy Solutions.
Les Alizés has been on long-term charter to RWE, which made the vessel available to the Inch Cape project between its own construction campaigns.
Remaining offshore work scheduled for 2026 includes the installation of transition pieces, jacket foundations, the remaining section of the second export cable, the first inter-array cables and the first turbines.
The project remains on schedule for first power in late 2026 and full commercial operation in 2027.
Inch Cape is jointly owned by ESB and Red Rock Renewables.
