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Harland & Wolff nets Neart na Gaoithe bounty

By: Tom Russell 16/04/2021 Harland & Wolff

General Windfarms

Harland & Wolff, owned by Infrastrata, has been awarded a contract by Saipem Limited for the fabrication and load-out of eight wind turbine generator (WTG) jacket foundations.

The jacket foundations will be installed at the EDF Renewables and ESB owned Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind project located in the outer Firth of Forth in Scotland. The contract schedule is due to commence from 1 July 2021 and is anticipated to create around 290 direct and indirect jobs.

The works for fabrication, consolidation and load-out of the eight WTG jacket foundations will principally be conducted at Harland and Wolff’s newly acquired Methil facilities in Scotland.

The Methil yard previously failed to secure work on Neart na Gaoithe whilst owned by Burntisland Fabrication Limited (BiFab) after the Scottish government revoked its offer of a £30 million contract guarantee. It has since been acquired by Infrastrata and now operates under the Harland & Wolff brand following BiFab slipping into administration.
Should there be an opportunity to further optimise the works programme and make the contract more cost-effective, Harland & Wolff and Saipem will work jointly to spread additional workstreams within the contract across its three other sites in Belfast, Arnish and Appledore.

Harland & Wolff’s four sites offer a combined footprint of over 334.6 hectacres, with well over 72,000m² of undercover fabrication capacity. Belfast comprises two of the largest drydocks in the UK, second largest in Europe, each at 356 metres and 556 metres in length whilst Arnish boasts the largest fabrication hall in Europe. Both the Arnish and Methil sites offer 580,000m² of total site area and 24,000 tonnes of quayside load-out capabilities, boasting an annual throughput tonnage estimated at over 100,000 tonnes.

John Wood, CEO of InfraStrata, commented: “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.”

The 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe wind farm is owned by EDF Renewables and ESB. Once fully operational, it is expected to generate electricity for around 375,000 homes, or all domestic properties in a city the size of Edinburgh, and to displace 400,000 tons of CO2 annually. It was awarded a CfD by LCCC in February 2015, with a strike price of £114.39/MWh. The first commercial supply of electricity is expected by 2023.

For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide, click here.

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Harland & Wolff nets Neart na Gaoithe bounty

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