UK-based Enshore Subsea has been awarded the export cable installation contract for the 1,100MW Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm, located off the Angus coastline in Scotland. The project will involve the installation of two 85-kilometre, 220kV, three-phase export cables, which are among the largest of their kind globally in terms of diameter and weight.
Each of the export cables will be delivered in three sections and will require offshore field joints. Enshore Subsea’s responsibilities include transporting the cables from port to site, laying and burying them, supporting the jointing process, and deploying the cable protection system.
The company will also handle all pull-in operations and the installation of the cables into both the transition joint bay (TJB) at Cockenzie, East Lothian, and the offshore substation off the Angus coast.
Pierre Boyde, Managing Director of Enshore Subsea, stated, “Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm is a significant project for the UK, and we are proud that we can play our part. We are looking forward to working with the Inch Cape team and other partners to bring the development to life.”
Offshore work for the project is set to commence in summer 2025, with cable laying to be conducted using the CMOS Installer cable lay vessel. The cables will be buried using Enshore Subsea’s fleet of subsea trenchers.
John Hill, Project Director for Inch Cape, commented, “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.”
The Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm will feature 72 wind turbine generators, each standing up to 274 metres tall, and is located in water depths ranging from 40 to 59 metres.
This contract follows Enshore Subsea’s recent inter-array trenching work for a U.S.-based offshore wind farm and an ongoing EPCI project in Senegal.
