Enshore Subsea Secures Contract for Inch Cape Offshore Wind Project
UK-headquartered Enshore Subsea has recently announced that it has secured an export cable installation contract for the Inch Cape offshore wind project in Scotland. This project, with a capacity of 1.1 GW, is one of the largest offshore wind projects in the region.
The scope of the contract includes the installation of two 85-kilometer, 220 kV export cables, each delivered in three sections and requiring offshore field joints. Enshore Subsea will be responsible for the entire cable installation process, from transfer to lay and burial, to support during jointing and deployment of the cable protection system.
Furthermore, the company will conduct all pull-in operations and install the export cables into both the transition joint bay at Cockenzie, East Lothian, and the offshore substation located off the Angus coastline.
Enshore Subsea is set to commence offshore works in the summer of 2025 at the project site, located 15-22 kilometers off the Angus coastline. The cable laying operations will be carried out using the CMOS Installer cable lay vessel, with cable burial 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 scheduled to begin in April, starting with work within the project’s export cable corridor. Operations at the export cable landfall site are expected to commence on or around April 1, 2025, as per a Notice to Mariners from the project team.
The Inch Cape project, owned by ESB and Red Rock Renewables, will feature 72 Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines. The developers reached financial close on the project in January this year and have already signed contracts with the main suppliers.