The jacket for the European Inch Cape offshore wind power project completes load-out for shipment in Zhuhai, South China’s Hainan Province, on December 23, 2025. Photo: Screenshot from cpnn.com.cn

The jacket, a core piece of equipment for the Inch Cape offshore wind power project, with a total weight exceeding 10,000 tons, was delivered in Zhuhai, South China’s Guangdong Province, on Tuesday. It is the largest single-unit-capacity offshore wind power jacket foundation built by China for Europe, marking a major breakthrough in China’s core manufacturing capabilities for offshore wind power equipment, China Central Television reported on Tuesday, citing China National Offshore Oil Corporation. 

The delivered core components include three jacket foundations and 11 monopile transition pieces, with a total weight of 13,850 tons. Each jacket foundation stands 95.19 meters tall. 

As China’s first internationally compliant steel-pile offshore wind jacket of its kind, the project involves high levels of difficulty in structural connections and corrosion protection, as well as complex construction processes. The transition pieces feature large central tube diameters and thick walls, significantly increasing the difficulty in welding process development and precision control.

According to Luo Jianmin, project manager of the Inch Cape offshore wind power project, the company pioneered the world’s first “side-V” construction technique for offshore wind jacket foundations, achieving submillimeter closure accuracy through modular pre-assembly and real-time monitoring.

Besides, the independently developed high-strength steel welding technology successfully passed impact welding qualification tests at minus 50 C, realizing 100 percent domestically built core structures and filling a technological gap in this field in China. By precisely controlling welding temperature and structural deformation, a first-pass welding success rate of over 99 percent was achieved, Luo said. 

Global Times