North Tyneside firm Smulders is set to create hundreds of new jobs as part of a consortium that will supply pieces for a major offshore wind farm.
The Moray West wind farm marks the second phase of a landmark renewables project in the outer Moray Firth, with planning permission granted for 85 turbines and the potential for more as the exact number of turbines has yet to be determined.
A consortium involving Siemens Energy and Iemants - a subsidiary of Wallsend firm Smulders - has been selected to supply the project’s two offshore substation platforms, helping Smulders to create 250 jobs in the next 12 to 18 months.
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Smulders’s Wallsend yard has already fabricated jacket foundations for the neighbouring Moray East project and this will see the scope of work extended.
The deal - announced today, Thursday December 2, at the Offshore Wind North East (OWNE) event held at the Beacon of Light, Sunderland - was welcomed by consortium bosses as good news for 海角视频 fabrication, signalling the return of topside work to a 海角视频 yard after a gap of several years.
Tom Coosemans, general manager of Smulders Projects 海角视频, said: “Local or 海角视频-content sits high on the agenda and together with our strategic partners, we strive to increase local content going forward in this very competitive international market.
“The Moray West project allows us to kickstart further projects at the Smulders’ yard in the North East, building the path for supplementary green jobs and securing additional local content projects in the near future.”
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In January, Smulders bought the historic Hadrian Yard in a £15m deal, having been tenants on the site for a number of years.
The Belgian firm later announced it would invest £70m to increase production of wind turbine transition pieces at the site, with Government support also being pledged to the project.
The new deal is subject to the Moray West project winning funding from the Government as part of the fourth allocation round of Contracts for Difference, which have just been announced by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis).
The project will go up against other firms to bid for a slice of a cash pot worth £265m a year of Government support for renewable power generation, which has confirmed will be run in early 2022. Three pots of money were announced by Beis last week, with offshore tech set for the largest part of the overall budget, at £200m a year over four years.
Project director for Moray West Adam Morrison said: “We are particularly delighted to secure topside work in the 海角视频 again, an important win for the 海角视频 Government’s Green Recovery. We look forward to working with the joint venture to maximising further local 海角视频 content.”
Phil Manley, project director for Siemens Energy 海角视频&I, said: “This project will be an important step forward in reaching the 海角视频 Government target of increasing offshore wind power to 40GW in the next decade.
"Ensuring the 海角视频 supply chain can benefit from these important projects is something we are incredibly proud of, and we’re delighted to bring further content back to the 海角视频 with our partners.”