Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm was awarded in 2009 and, to date, remains a high potential project for Scotland and its investors. As a wind farm near the Angus coastline, the project has the opportunity to deliver renewable energy to as many as 1 million households.
It could be Scotland’s largest single source of clean energy when operational.
Where is the Inch Cape Wind Farm?
The project is located 15 km away from Angus coast, the east coast of Scotland, in the North Sea. It is also located at the Firth of Tay, east of Arbroath.
Montrose port had been identified as the O&M base of the wind farm.
Inch Cape Project History
Inch Cape has a history going back to 2009. Project ownership has changed hands several times since then. Still, the project is in the hands of a joint venture between a Chinese-owned company Red Rock Power Ltd., and Irish state company ESB.
Crown Estate was initially awarded Npower and Sea Energy Renewables Ltd in 2009. Still, Npower left the consortium in 2010, leaving Sea Energy Renewables Ltd. to secure the 50-year lease.
At the time, the poor market performance of Sea Energy Renewables Ltd. pushed management to find a buyer, which was eventually bought in 2011 by Repsol YPF SA, largest oil producer in Spain. Sea Energy focused on building charter marine vessels for turbines from the cash it received from Repsol.
Meanwhile, Repsol partnered with EDP renewables to obtain consent for the project before it bought the stake of EDP and eventually sold its entire stake in the project to SDIC Power for €238m in 2016.
SDIC, via its subsidiary, Red Rock Power Ltd., sold 50% of its stake in 2020 to ESB, which led to the current 50:50 equity share in Inch Cape offshore limited.
SDIC is a Chinese company owned by the state with a subsidiary listed on the Shanghai stock exchange.
Who owns Inch Cape Wind Farm today?
After all that history, Inch Cape Offshore Limited is now an equal joint venture between Red Rock Power Ltd. and ESB in a split of 50:50 equity share.
The company posted losses in 2018 and 2019, while it received some cash infusion from owner SDIC Power in 2020 until it brought in its partner ESB in the project in the same year.
How large is the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm project?
The project has demonstrated more potential as the turbine’s technology improves over time. Its original plan is 700 MW but is now approved to generate up to 1 GW.
When is the first power of Inch Cape Wind Farm?
There is no definite date for the first power of the farm, but the estimated date is in 2023. As of February 2022, a vessel was scheduled to perform surveying work near the Cockenzie coast.
How much energy will this project produce?
The project will power an estimated 1 million homes via 1 GW of installed capacity. It will secure a national grid connection via a Cockenzie Substation at East Lothian.
The project was permitted in principle in 2019 to develop the substation. Still, Inch Cape Offshore Limited requested an extension in November 2021 to finalize the design proposals.
Inch Cape Turbines
The design change was approved in 2020 from 110 turbines down to just 72, and the capacity cap was increased from 700 MW to 1 GW. Higher capacity turbines help generate more power with less turbines.
What is the turbine model?
No turbine model had been formally announced, but in the CFD Auction in 2019, MHI Vestas 9.5 MW had been identified for the project.
The project could not secure a CFD and afterward requested an increase in capacity per turbine. The current assumption is Vestas 15 MW turbines will be used.