Installation of all 54 transition pieces for the monopile foundations at the 1.1 GW Inch Cape offshore wind farm in Scotland has been completed.
Seaway7’s heavy lift crane vessel Seaway Alfa Lift transported the transition pieces from the marshalling yard at Forth Port’s Leith facility and installed six units per trip.
Each of the 54 monopile transition pieces, manufactured by CNOOD-Wenchong Heavy Industries (CWHI) and COOEC Fluor Heavy Industries (CFHI), is approximately 28 metres tall, has an outer diameter of 8.3 metres and weighs around 700 tonnes.
The completion of the transition piece campaign follows the installation of all monopiles in June. The monopiles were delivered by CWHI and Dajin Offshore, and installed by Jan De Nul using its heavy-lift vessel Les Alizés .
Inch Cape will feature 72 Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines installed on a combination of 54 monopile foundations and 18 jacket foundations supported by 54 pin piles.
The jacket foundations are being delivered by COOEC Fluor Heavy Industries (CFHI), with Seaway7 in charge of their installation under a contract with Inch Cape Offshore Limited signed in December 2024, which covers the transportation and installation of the jacket foundations and their pin piles, and the 54 monopile transition pieces.
The next phase of Seaway7’s foundation work will involve installing the 54 pin piles using a pre-piling template, followed by the 18 jacket foundations later this year.
Further offshore construction activities planned for 2026 include the completion of the second export cable burial, installation of the first array cables and the start of wind turbine installation.
The 1.1 GW Inch Cape offshore wind farm, located approximately 15 kilometres off the Angus coast, is expected to produce first power in late 2026 and enter full commercial operation in 2027.
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