Giant yellow towers dominating Edinburgh's skyline are due to be removed

The giant yellow structures visible at the Port of Leith are massive steel foundations and transition pieces for the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm | Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman

They have dominated the Edinburgh skyline most of the year but Leith's giant yellow towers won’t be with us for much longer.

The huge structures, which are perfectly visible from Fife, were installed at Leith Docks in February but they will begin to depart over the coming months as they are transported to a major offshore wind farm.

The 18 towers, brought here by offshore company Inch Cape, are wind farm parts.

The three-legged lattice tower structures, known as jacket foundations, are up to 83 metres tall each - twice the height of the nearby Port of Leith Distillery at Ocean Terminal - and they weigh between 2,050 and 2,250 tonnes.

The giant yellow structures visible at the Port of Leith are massive steel foundations and transition pieces for the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm. | Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman

The “jacket foundations” will support the wind turbines at the Inch Cape site east of Arbroath -”jacket foundations” are typically used where water depths are above 55 metres, and each one is designed to suit its specific location based on water depth, soil conditions and turbine size.

The giant yellow structures visible at the Port of Leith, seen from Calton Hill. | Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman

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The installation vessel Alfa Lift, which has a giant crane to take on board each of the foundations, will return to Leith this week to start collecting the pin piles which fix the jackets to the seabed.

When the 18 sets of pin piles are installed, the jacket installation will get underway, and the giant yellow towers will begin to gradually disappear from the Edinburgh skyline.

The last jackets are scheduled to leave Leith in early 2027.