Scotland's Port of Dundee lands assembly gig for gigascale Inch Cape offshore wind giant
Firth of Tay facility will handle pre-assembly and marshalling for 1.1GW project being developed by China's Red Rock Power and Ireland's ESB in North Sea
The UK’s Port of Dundee has been chosen as the pre-assembly and marshalling site for the construction of the giant 1.1GW Inch Cape offshore wind farm, being developed by China’s Red Rock Power and Irish energy utility ESB.
The deal for the project, on track to be Scotland’s largest offshore wind development when brought online later this decade, will range over handling turbine blades, towers and nacelles at the port’s renewables hub ahead of the components being shipped out for installation.
“The port is ideally sited for our construction operation and offers us the area we require for the number – and sheer scale – of the turbines we will be deploying,” said Inch Cape project director Adam Ezzamel.
“Offshore construction is a specialist area and the Port of Dundee offers us a management team with the experience and capability to deal with the logistical challenges that have to be managed during our construction phase.
Director of energy at Port of Dundee owner Forth Ports David Webster said: “This is a very significant project for the port.
“We have built Scotland’s only custom-built renewables hub at the port which, when coupled with Dundee’s proximity to the project site in the North Sea and the natural deep waters of the Tay, makes the port ideally suited to the requirements of this major contract for Inch Cape.”
The array is being built around 72 turbines installed 15km off the Angus coast and connected to the national electricity transmission network at Cockenzie, East Lothian.