The works for fabrication, consolidation and load-out of the eight WTG jacket foundations will principally be conducted at Harland & Wolff’s newly acquired Methil facilities in Scotland. InfraStrata – the owner of the Harland & Wolff shipyards - acquired the assets of the Scottish-based offshore energy fabrication company, Burntisland Fabrication (BiFab) in February. BiFab had gone into administration last year.
The jacket foundations will service the Neart na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Farm project, which is located in the outer Firth of Forth in Scotland and owned by EDF Renewables and ESB. Harland & Wolff has been awarded the contract by Saipem.
Work is scheduled to begin on 1st July and is anticipated to create about 290 direct and indirect jobs.
Opportunities to further optimise the programme and make the contract more cost-effective are being explored and could involve Harland & Wolff and Saipem working jointly to spread additional workstreams across Harland & Wolff’s three other sites in Belfast, Arnish and Appledore.
John Wood, CEO of InfraStrata, said: “We are delighted to have entered into this contract with Saipem and I believe that this contract paves the way for the execution and delivery of future fabrication contracts, a significant number of which are currently in advanced negotiations.
“The geographical proximity of our Methil facility to the North Sea makes it an ideal site for fabrication and load-out to wind farm projects such as this. More importantly, it validates our strategic vision of expanding the group’s fabrication footprint into regions that are strategically located within proximity to major wind farm projects. This will enable us to spread workstreams across our facilities to drive down costs, deliver against tight schedules and, crucially, align ourselves to the government’s goal of providing wind generated power to all homes in the UK by 2030.
“I am confident that this is only the beginning of a stream of projects in our pipeline that we expect to come to fruition. We are hugely excited about the massive potential that this first contract has unlocked, and we look forward to working with Saipem to successfully deliver under it.”
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