1.1 GW Inch Cape Wind Farm Entering Offshore Construction Phase

January 27, 2025, by Adnan Memija

ESB and Red Rock Renewables have reached a financial close on the 1,080 MW Inch Cape offshore wind farm in Scotland, and the project will now progress into its offshore construction phase.

The Scottish offshore wind project has reached a financial close, securing a GBP 3.5 billion financing package from shareholders and lenders, comprising 22 banks. K2 Management provided the Lender’s Technical Adviser (LTA) due diligence services to the lending consortium financing the 1.1 GW wind farm.

To date, Inch Cape has spent almost GBP 300 million with more than 300 UK companies, including environmental, technical, and engineering consultancies; civil and structural engineers; survey contractors; and project management support, said the developer.

“Offshore wind will play a key part in the delivery of ESB’s Net Zero Strategy by 2040 and Inch Cape is an important step along that journey. We look forward to entering the main construction phase and safely delivering this project over the coming years. Inch Cape will make a significant contribution to the UK climate goals, while creating local jobs,” said Paul Lennon, Head of Offshore Wind, Hydrogen and Long-Term Storage at ESB.

Inch Cape was first awarded planning consent in 2014. The offshore wind farm has a 50-year lease with Crown Estate Scotland and has secured 15-year contracts with the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) through the UK government’s Contract for Difference (CfD) auctions in 2022 and 2024.

“Reaching financial close is a monumental milestone for Inch Cape, Red Rock and our joint venture partnership with ESB. This success is a testament to the efficient design and cutting-edge technologies employed by the project, highlighting our resilience and commitment to making it one of the largest green investments in Scotland while contributing to the UK’s net zero goals,” said Xiaomeng Chen, Red Rock Renewables CEO

Located in the North Sea 15 kilometres off the Angus coast, the Inch Cape offshore wind farm will be the first UK project to use Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines.

The 1,080 MW project will comprise 72 turbines on a mix of monopile and jacket foundations, a single offshore substation platform, and two 85-kilometre AC export cables, delivering power to an onshore substation, currently under construction at Cockenzie, East Lothian.

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Construction of the offshore substation jacket foundation and the offshore platform is nearing completion at Smulders, Wallsend, according to the developer.

Siemens Energy and its partner Smulders were contracted to deliver the onshore and offshore substation package for the Scottish offshore wind farm.

Dajin Offshore Heavy Industry and CNOOD-Wenchong Heavy Industries (CWHI) are responsible for the delivery of monopile foundations, which will be installed at the site by Jan De Nul. The jacket foundation installation will be carried out by Seaway7.

Offshore construction is planned to commence in the second quarter of 2025, with the start of the installation of the export cables, followed by the installation of the offshore platform.

The first power is expected in late 2026, with a commercial operation date in 2027. Once operational, the Inch Cape offshore wind farm will generate almost 5 TWh of renewable energy each year, according to the developer.

“I am very proud for the project team – it is a great achievement to reach financial close on the Inch Cape project, which is at the forefront of technology in the offshore wind industry. The project is the largest infrastructure project currently in construction in Scotland and will deliver huge quantities of clean low-cost energy once completed in 2027,” said John Hill, Inch Cape Project Director.