Civils contractor Charles Brand has used specialist heat-conducting concrete to support the landfall connection to the Inch Cape offshore windfarm on the east coast of Scotland.
Underground power cables lose capacity as a result of rising temperatures. Using heat-conducting concrete as a bedding material and infill material at the landfall site prevents this by enhancing heat dissipation.
For this project, Heidelberg Materials supplied Charles Brand 242 cum of its PowerCrete heat-conductive concrete from its Glasgow concrete plant.
Tidal conditions required precise delivery windows and collaboration between the operations and distribution teams to coordinate the timed pours, said the building materials company.
Michael Kelly, commercial manager at Charles Brand, the main contractor for the project, said: “PowerCrete was exactly what we needed for Inch Cape and handled the technical demands of the cable installation really well.
“The tidal schedule added some complexity, but the Heidelberg Materials team
coordinated deliveries seamlessly. It’s reassuring to work with a supplier who truly understands site pressures and partners with you to deliver.”
Robert Grant, Heidelberg Materials UK’s area general manager, added: “This was a great example of how close coordination between our plant, logistics and site teams can make a real difference.”
Inch Cape, located approximately 15km off the coast of Angus in the North Sea, is set to be one of Scotland’s largest offshore windfarms.
It is part of the Firth of Forth area and will feature up to 72 wind turbines, with power transmitted to an onshore substation in East Lothian for connection to the national grid.
