UK-headquartered Enshore Subsea has secured an export cable installation contract for one of Scotland’s largest offshore wind projects, the 1.1 GW Inch Cape.
The Inch Cape offshore wind farm will feature two 85-kilometer, 220 kV, three-phase export cables , each delivered in three sections and requiring offshore field joints.
Under the contract, Enshore Subsea will be responsible for the export cable installation, including transfer from port to site, lay and burial, support during jointing, and deployment of the cable protection system.
The company will also carry out all pull-in operations and installation of the export cables into both the transition joint bay at Cockenzie, East Lothian, and the offshore substation located off the Angus coastline.
The project, which is located 15-22 kilometers off the Angus coastline, will see Enshore Subsea begin offshore works in the summer of 2025. Cable laying will be carried out using the CMOS Installer cable lay vessel. The cable will be buried using assets from Enshore Subsea’s fleet of subsea trenchers.
“We are delighted to have UK-based Enshore Subsea signed to carry out the installation of our two 85-km export cables. The landfall construction site is now being prepared in readiness for the first cable’s arrival later this year,” said John Hill , Inch Cape Project Director.
Construction activities at the Inch Cape offshore wind farm are planned to kick off in April with construction work within the project’s export cable corridor .
According to a Notice to Mariners from the project team, the work will commence with operations at the export cable landfall site on or around April 1, 2025.
The 1.1 GW project, owned by ESB and Red Rock Renewables, will comprise 72 Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines .
The developers reached financial close on the offshore wind project in January this year and signed contracts with the main suppliers.