Offshore construction at the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm has advanced with completion of the project’s 54 transition piece installations in the North Sea.
The campaign followed completion of all 54 monopiles two months earlier. Seaway7 installed the transition pieces with the heavy lift crane vessel Seaway Alfa Lift, operating from Forth Port’s marshalling yard in Leith. Six units were transported and installed during each vessel trip.
The transition pieces measure 28 m in height and 8.3 m in outer diameter, with each weighing approximately 700 t. They form the interface between the installed monopiles and the wind turbine towers that will be placed above them.
Each unit is equipped with a boat landing system as well as an access ladder and external work platform. These components will allow technicians and engineers to access the turbine towers for maintenance once the wind farm is operational.
Several contractors were involved in the transition piece scope. SLPE provided engineering design, while CWHI and CFHI carried out fabrication. Forth Projects handled marshalling work in Leith, Global Energy Solutions completed associated works, and Seaway7 was responsible for installation.
Inch Cape Project Director John Hill said completion of the 54 transition pieces allows the project to proceed with array cable installation and the start of turbine installation later this year.
The next foundation-related activity will involve installation of 54 pin piles using a specially designed pile installation frame, also referred to as a pre-piling template. This work is scheduled ahead of installation of the project’s 18 jacket foundations.
Seaway7 Senior Project Manager Niamh Thompson said the company will now turn its attention to the pin pile campaign before jacket installation later this year.
Other offshore activities planned for this year include completing burial of the second export cable, installing the first array cables and beginning installation of the first wind turbines.
Inch Cape is owned on a 50/50 basis by ESB of Ireland and Red Rock Renewables.
