Strategic risk advisor
provides UXO surveying and management for grid operator’s renewable energy
cabling contracts at the BorWin, Sandbank and Jade Area projects.
6 Alpha Associates, the
strategic advisor for managing high risk offshore initiatives, has carried
out work on three projects under the framework agreement it signed with
TenneT, the European grid operator, in January 2014. The work has seen
6 Alpha Associates provide complex survey and risk management consultancy
for unexploded ordnance (UXO) risk in the marine environment.
With the continued development
of offshore wind projects in European waters, a legacy of unexploded WWII
sea mines, munitions dumps and former military testing sites poses a significant
threat, both to the successful and timely delivery of these developments
and to the safety of the workers and contractors operating offshore.
In light of costly UXO-related
delays on a number of high-profile offshore wind projects across Europe,
project developers, transmission owners and investors are learning that
significant cost savings can be made with the early engagement of a specialist
UXO risk consultant.
This has the effect of
enabling developers to mitigate the UXO risk in a far more cost effective
manner, which may save expensive investigation and clearance operations
and in many cases project downtime whilst UXO is removed.
The TenneT projects will
see 6 Alpha develop, design and manage the surveying and risk management
assessment for all offshore UXO along key cable transmission routes.
“The legacy of war
fighting, post war dumping and continuous training has made European waters
a hazardous environment for construction,” said Simon Cooke, Managing
Director, 6 Alpha Associates.
“Having worked with TenneT
previously, and now working with the business under a framework agreement,
we’re deploying our expertise to ensure that we can not only deliver project
safety but also minimise project delays and ultimately save developers
time and money.”
6 Alpha Associates has
provided specialist risk consultancy services for 75% of the UK’s Round
3 offshore wind projects, four of five French offshore renewable energy
projects and a number of further developments in Dutch and German waters.
In 2014, the firm, which
also provides UXO consultancy services for the onshore construction industry,
was selected to co-author the CIRIA guide for offshore UXO risk management.
That guide is expected to be published in the summer of 2015.
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