DEME Offshore, formerly GeoSea, has announced the selection of Tier One suppliers for its Moray East offshore windfarm foundation contract, many of which are based in the UK.
The 950 MW wind farm is being developed by Moray Offshore Windfarm East Ltd (MOWEL) which is a joint venture company owned by Diamond Green Limited (33.4%), EDPR (33.3 %), ENGIE (23.3%) and CTG (10%).The project was initiated following the award of a £57.50/MWh Contract for Difference (CfD) by the UK Government in 2017.
DEME Offshore’s announcement of Tier One suppliers for its EPCI works marks the culmination of around 1.5 years of work, which it carried out under an early works’ contract for the design and procurement of 100 wind turbine foundations, plus three offshore substation platform foundations. DEME Offshore will perform the transport and installation of each of the foundations and the three topsides for the offshore substation platforms.
High level of UK local content
The offshore installation works will be undertaken from northern Scottish ports, including the Port of Invergordon which has been lined up by DEME Offshore to act as a staging facility under a multi million pound contract. A major portion of the fabrication works (including all final assembly) on 55 of the jackets will be done by Smulders in the UK (Wallsend, Newcastle) supported by fabrication activities in Europe. The balance of the jackets will be supplied by Dubai-based Rig Metals LLC (part of the Lamprell Group) and then shipped and offloaded to northern Scottish ports. A contract was also awarded to PSG Marine & Logistics Ltd which will manage the onshore handling works at the marshalling harbour in Invergordon.
DEME Offshore has also awarded the fabrication of 150 pin piles to the Scottish company BiFab, now owned by Canadian DF Barnes. The remaining piles have been awarded to the German fabricator EEW. Furthermore, the specialised UK-based davit crane supplier Granada is lined up to supply over 100 offshore cranes for the project.
In the coming months, DEME Offshore, together with its partner Smulders, will organise Tier Two local supply chain workshops to identify and contract other work packages with local suppliers.
Jan Klaassen, Business Unit Manager Offshore Renewables, comments: “We are pleased to announce that after a long and carefully executed procurement process we have been able to award a significant amount of work to both the Scottish and English supply chain. We are very much looking forward to working with the highly skilled experts in the local offshore wind supply chain and developing partnerships for future potential projects in this flourishing sector. This major project achievement will also help us to expand our footprint in the UK, particularly in Scotland. We are very thankful for the support provided by the UK and Scottish government departments while conducting this procurement process.
Dan Finch, from the Board of Moray East said: “This announcement marks another significant milestone for UK offshore wind as a low-cost, low-carbon supply of energy. It comes following extensive engagement with the supply chain, with the UK demonstrating competitiveness on a global scale by winning a major share of jacket fabrication. This follows last week’s announcement of pile fabrication at BiFab, while installation work provides more opportunities and the announcement of contracts with PSG Marine and Logistics Ltd at Invergordon and the supply of 100 cranes by Granada is more good news for the UK supply chain.”