Scottish Offshore Wind Farm Applies For Capacity Boost

Inch Cape Offshore Limited (ICOL) has submitted a request to increase the maximum capacity of the Inch Cape offshore wind farm in Scotland from around 700MW to up to 1,000MW.

The developer said that the increase in capacity could be achieved without the need to change the parameters already approved in 2019 through the use of more efficient wind turbines.

In 2014, ICOL was granted Section 36 Consent and Marine Licences for the construction and operation of an offshore wind farm with up to 110 wind turbines and associated transmission works.

ICOL subsequently submitted a new application in 2018, seeking consent for a revised design that would utilise the progressions in turbine technology since 2014.

The application was approved and the number of wind turbines to be used on the wind farm was limited to up to 72 taller units.

The developer has since carried out a review of wind turbine technologies, in conjunction with potential timescales for construction of the wind farm, which has determined that it is now feasible that turbines with a greater capacity rating will become available within a suitable timeframe to deliver the project.

The physical dimensions of any such turbines would be within those parameters assessed within the application and identified in the current Section 36 consent and Generating Marine Licence, ICOL said.

Inch Cape is located in the North Sea around 15km off the Angus coastline at a site covering an area of some 150km2.

ICOL is 100% owned by Red Rock Power, an Edinburgh-based company which is in turn owned by China’s SDIC Power Holdings. The developer entered the last year’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction and was unsuccessful.