Inch Cape Offshore Substation Starts Taking Shape

Grid Connection

November 20, 2023, by Adnan Durakovic

The assembly and fit-out of the offshore substation platform and jacket foundation for the 1.1 GW Inch Cape offshore wind farm has now kicked off at the Smulders yard in Wallsend, Newcastle, the UK.

A consortium of Siemens Energy and Iemants, a Smulders subsidiary, is responsible for the delivery of the offshore substation for the Scottish project located 15 kilometres off the Angus coast.

Siemens Energy is also responsible for the design and construction of the project’s onshore substation in Cockenzie, East Lothian.

The work at the Wallsend yard will include the fit-out and assembly of the platform, which will use Siemens Energy’s Offshore Transformer Module (OTM®) technology, and its jacket foundation.

A team of more than 250 local employees will work on the project which will take approximately 18 months to complete, before transportation by sea for installation at the wind farm site expected in 2025.

Work has already started on Inch Cape’s 2.6 hectare onshore substation, located on the site of the former Cockenzie Power Station and in close proximity to the existing transmission network connection.

Inch Cape is owned by Inch Cape Offshore Wind Limited, a joint venture company held equally by Red Rock Power and ESB.

The wind farm will feature 72 Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines.