The first shipment of XXL monopile foundations for Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm has arrived in the port of Leith.
The 1.1 GW Inch Cape project will be the first to use the the recently completed Forth Ports’ renewables hub, where the components for all the project’s 72 foundations will be offloaded, marshalled, stored and then loaded out for installation.
The first eight XXL monopile foundations were transported by a COSCO heavy transport vessel which docked at the recently-opened deep water riverside Charles Hammond Berth. The arrival of the monopiles, each measuring up to 103 m long, weighing around 2,300 tonnes and with diameters of 11.5 m, marks the start of an intensive phase of construction for the flagship Scottish project.
The Charles Hammond Berth features a heavy lift capability of up to 100 tonnes per sq m, with 175 acres (70.8 ha) of adjacent land for associated renewables logistics, marshalling and manufacturing.
Installation of the XXL monopile foundations will start before the end of the year using the Jan De Nul heavy lift vessel Les Alizés and will continue into 2026.
