Inch Cape Substation En Route to Project Site Offshore Scotland

July 31, 2025, by Adnan Memija

The substation platform and jacket foundation for the Inch Cape offshore wind farm have departed from the Smulders yard in Wallsend, Newcastle, and are en route to their site off the Angus coast in Scotland.

Inch Cape substation — *Source: Inch Cape Offshore Limited; Credit: Ithica*

The Siemens Energy Offshore Transformer Module (OTM) and its jacket foundation sailed at sunset yesterday (30 July) down the River Tyne, into the North Sea, and onwards to Scotland.

After almost two years, the teams at Wallsend have delivered the first-ever OTM with two circuits, known as a double platform, along with the 68-metre four-legged jacket foundation that will be piled to the seabed.

Both the platform, weighing just under 3,000 tonnes, and the jacket were fabricated entirely at Smulders’ Wallsend facility. A total of around 80 local UK suppliers contributed to the completion of these components, according to Inch Cape Offshore Limited, a joint venture between ESB and Red Rock Renewables.

The Siemens Energy OTM and jacket were transported by the Heerema Marine Contractors barge H-406 and will soon be installed at the Inch Cape site, located 15 kilometres off the Angus coast. Once in place, the Inch Cape team and contractors will begin the next phase of construction known as hook-up and commissioning.

Transformers for 1.1 GW Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm Arrive in UK

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The developers of the 1.1 GW offshore wind farm reached the financial close on the Scottish project at the beginning of this year, progressing it into the offshore construction phase.

Inch Cape will feature 72 Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines installed on a mix of monopile and jacket foundations, as well as an offshore substation and two 85-kilometre AC export cables, delivering power to an onshore substation at Cockenzie, East Lothian.

The offshore wind farm is expected to produce first power in late 2026 and to be fully commissioned the following year.