Eight sets of jacket foundations for Scotland’s Inch Cape offshore wind project arrived in Europe this week from Zhuhai, a port city in the Chinese mainland. The delivery, completed on Wednesday, represents the largest single-unit capacity offshore wind turbine jackets ever exported from China to Europe, underscoring the country’s growing role in global renewable energy infrastructure.
Engineering Marvels Set New Standards
Each jacket structure weighs 19,500 tonnes collectively – comparable to 15,000 cars – with the tallest unit reaching 95.44 meters, equivalent to a 35-story building. Wang Tengfei, deputy project manager at CNOOC Engineering, highlighted innovations such as sub-millimeter precision closures and high-strength steel welding technology, achieving a first-pass rate exceeding 99%.
Powering Scotland’s Green Future
The Inch Cape wind farm, located in the North Sea, will have a total capacity of 1.08 gigawatts upon completion – enough to power half of Scotland’s households. The project’s 18 jacket foundations and 24 connecting accessories, totaling over 60,000 tonnes, mark a significant step toward Europe’s decarbonization goals.
