Developers of the 714MW East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm will hold an East of England supply chain event in the new year to announce new contracts, ScottishPower Renewables’ Charlie Jordan, director of the GBP 2.5 billion project, said.
More than 450 hopeful suppliers had already registered on ScottishPower Renewables’ data base for the 102-turbine farm. An estimated 3,000 jobs will be created throughout the project, with 100 jobs provided to keep it running for the next 30 years, Jordan said.
“We still have cabling contracts; two thirds of our jackets are still to be awarded, electrical equipment and onshore work,” Jordan said.
”There is a plethora of projects still to be awarded – HDDs (horizontal directional drillings), civils, substation construction – all of which we have the capacity for in the UK and certainly in this area. We have the highest proportion of investment in the UK on this project with more than 50 per cent. We are supporting inward investment in the supply chain.”
Jordan made the announcement while addressing more than 200 delegates at the Offshore Wind Week East Anglia Event at OrbisEnergy, Lowestoft, organised by the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR).
Delegates heard that the East Anglia ONE contracts are part of a rapidly-growing multi-billion pound industry, which has brought more than GBP 9 billion of investment to the UK in the first six months of this year.
Paul Thomson, managing director of Lowestoft-based Sembmarine SLP, said they had been “desperately disappointed” not to have been able to work on East Anglia ONE.
Its oil&gas contract for the Culzean project meant it had “a major schedule clash and, to quell rumours, we could not compete. We want to support the industry in the future.”