Jan De Nul’s Vessel to Transport and Install Monopile Foundations for Inch Cape Wind Farm

Belgian marine contractor Jan De Nul is set to provide its heavy lift vessel, Les Alizés, for the transport and installation of monopile foundations on the Inch Cape wind farm offshore Scotland. The wind farm, located in the North Sea off the Angus coast, will consist of 72 turbines with a total capacity of 1080MW, supported by UK government contracts for difference.

Developed by a joint venture between ESB and Red Rock Renewables, the Inch Cape project recently reached financial close and is now moving into the construction phase. Once operational, the wind farm will generate enough green energy to power half of all Scottish homes and will feature 15 MW Vestas turbines, a first for offshore wind farms in the UK.

Engineering and project preparation for the transport and installation of the monopile foundations are already underway and are scheduled to commence in late 2025. The monopiles, reaching up to 110 meters in length and weighing up to 2,500 tonnes each, will be loaded at a newly constructed quayside at the Port of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Jan De Nul’s Les Alizés vessel has been earmarked for the Inch Cape project as its third consecutive assignment. Following the completion of installing 107 monopile foundations for the Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farms in Germany in December 2024, the vessel is currently working on installing 72 monopiles for RWE’s Thor farm in Denmark.

Although the vessel is on a long-term charter to RWE, the German utility has arranged for it to be available to other developers during downtime between projects. This flexibility allows Jan De Nul to efficiently utilize its heavy lift vessel for multiple offshore wind projects across Europe.