Wind Energy – Inch Cape Project
Jan de Nul will deploy its heavy-lift vessel Les Alizés for the monopile installation at the Inch Cape offshore wind farm in Scotland.
Inch Cape will comprise 72 Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines installed on a mix of monopile and jacket foundations. The monopiles and their transition pieces will be delivered by Dajin Offshore Heavy Industry and CNOOD-Wenchong Heavy Industries (CWHI).
While Jan de Nul has been contracted for the installation of the monopile foundations, jackets at the Inch Cape project site will be installed by Seaway7.
Engineering and project preparation for the transport and installation of the monopile foundations is already underway, according to Jan De Nul. The installation is expected to start in late 2025.
The monopiles are up to 110 meters long and weigh up to 2,500 tonnes, equal to the weight of about 2,500 average cars. The monopiles will be loaded at a newly built quayside at the entrance to the Port of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland.
For Jan de Nul’s Les Alizés, delivered in January 2023, Inch Cape marks the third consecutive assignment.
The monopiles are up to 110 meters long and weigh up to 2,500 tonnes, equal to the weight of about 2,500 average cars. The monopiles will be loaded at a newly built quayside at the entrance to the Port of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Jan de Nul will deploy the heavy-lift vessel Les Alizés for the project as her third consecutive assignment. Les Alizés is customised for the transport and installation of offshore energy infrastructure. In December 2024, the vessel finished her first project: 107 monopile foundations on German wind farms Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3. This spring, she will continue her mission with the installation of 72 monopiles on RWE’s Thor, Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm to date.
David Debaere, Manager Offshore Energy Structures at Jan De Nul: “Looking at the journey of Les Alizés, it is clear that Jan de Nul is playing an important role in Europe’s transition to renewable energy. From a wind farm in Germany to another in Denmark, and one in Scotland — and this is just the beginning. But it is not only about the vessels, it is just as much about our skilled co-workers who operate them. They are the ones carrying out the demanding work at sea. They are the heroes of the energy transition.”
The Jan de Nul vessel is on long-term charter to RWE, the energy leader has already taken steps to ensure the vessel could be made available to other developers during downtime between its own projects. The Inch Cape project is a good example of offshore wind developers sharing equipment to help build out more offshore wind capacity.
Jon Darling, Head of Construction Delivery at RWE: “As one of the world’s leading offshore wind developers and operators, we are aware that our long-term charter vessels from Jan de Nul may not always be fully utilised on our projects. We are highly sensitive to the pressures on the global offshore industry, created by the limited availability of these highly capable construction vessels. We are pleased to make the vessel available for this unique and highly collaborative initiative, supporting Inch Cape’s continued drive to deliver new UK energy infrastructure and to evolve towards net zero.”
