The three 28-kilometre sections of cable that will make up Inch Cape’s second export cable have now been laid along the cable corridor by the teams onboard cable laying vessel CMOS Installer.
The three sections were loaded out from the Port of Blyth, the North East base of cable installation vessel contractor Enshore Subsea along with supporting suppliers including Harlyn Solutions responsible for handling and controlled spooling operations.
The first section of 220 kV three-phase export cable sailed from Blyth for installation in early May. The cable was manufactured by Ningbo Orient Wires & Cables Co. Ltd (Orient Cable) and with a diameter of 2000mm², the cable is among the largest AC export cables in the world. The last of the third and final sections of cable was installed in late June, ahead of programme.
The cable sections have been pulled in to both the project’s offshore and onshore substations where cable connection activities are now underway. Offshore, Inch Cape has employed Siemens Energy’s first ever dual circuit Offshore Transformer Module (OTM®) while onshore, the new substation under construction on the site of the former coal-fired Cockenzie Power Station is nearing completion.
Civil engineering contractor Charles Brand carried out critical enabling works at the East Lothian coast to facilitate the landfall of both the 85 kilometre offshore export cables from the project’s offshore wind farm site. The second cable was pulled into a newly constructed transition joint bay via one of the two 675mm diameter stainless steel ducts that were installed in the existing sea defence wall to accommodate the export cables.
The sections subsea cables will now be jointed offshore by cable jointing team onboard 128-metre long offshore construction vessel Normand Cutter, before cable burial begins later in 2026. Onshore cable jointing will also be undertaken along with the completion of the landfall works including the concreting and area reinstatement.
