Jan De Nul Secures Contract for Installation of Monopiles at Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm

Belgian offshore installation contractor Jan De Nul has been awarded a contract for the installation of monopiles for the Inch Cape offshore wind farm in Scotland. The project, with a capacity of 1.1 GW, is a joint venture between ESB and Red Rock Renewables and recently reached financial close, moving into the construction phase.

Jan De Nul will be responsible for installing the monopile foundations using their offshore heavy-lift vessel Les Alizés, starting in late 2025. The monopiles, weighing up to 2,500 tonnes and reaching lengths of 110 meters, will be loaded at a newly constructed quayside at the Port of Leith in Edinburgh.

This marks the third consecutive project for Jan De Nul’s Les Alizés, a vessel designed for the transport and installation of offshore energy infrastructure. The vessel recently completed the installation of monopile foundations at German wind farms Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 and is set to work on Denmark’s Thor offshore wind farm in the coming year.

The Inch Cape offshore wind farm, located off the Angus coast, is one of Scotland’s largest renewable energy projects. Once operational, it is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 2.5 million tonnes per year and generate enough green energy to power half of all Scottish homes. Additionally, Inch Cape will be the first offshore wind farm in the UK to utilize 15 MW Vestas turbines.

Despite the vessel being on a long-term charter to RWE, the collaboration between developers has allowed for the availability of Les Alizés for the installation of monopiles at the Inch Cape project. John Hill, Project Director for Inch Cape Offshore Limited, expressed gratitude for the industry collaboration that made this arrangement possible.