The first three jacket foundations for the Inch Cape offshore wind project arrived at the Port of Leith this week, marking the start of jacket foundation deliveries for the development.
Inch Cape will use both jacket foundations and XXL monopile foundations for its 72 wind turbines across a 150 square kilometre offshore site. The two foundation types are being used to suit water depths ranging from 34 m to 64 m. Jacket foundations are typically selected for water depths above 55 m, and each unit is designed for its specific location based on water depth, soil conditions and turbine size.
The jacket foundations delivered to Edinburgh are up to 83 m tall and weigh between 2,050 tonnes and 2,250 tonnes. Each unit is a lattice steel structure with three legs and a transition piece that the wind turbine tower will be bolted to. The foundations are designed and fabricated to withstand harsh marine conditions while providing a stable platform for the wind turbines.
Installation will be carried out by heavy lift crane vessel Seaway Alfa Lift, which will collect the jackets from Forth Ports’ Port of Leith. At the offshore site, the foundations will be lowered individually onto the seabed and secured on pre-installed pin piles, one for each leg. Installation of the wind turbines on top of the foundations will begin towards the end of 2026.
The first batch of jacket foundations was shipped on a heavy transport vessel, Hua Yang Long, from fabricator COOEC-Fluor Heavy Industries, which has been contracted to deliver all 18 jacket foundations for the project, as well as 24 monopile transition pieces.
