Global Marine Energy Gets UK Offshore Wind Farm Maintenance Contract

Press Release July 15, 2012

Global Marine Energy contracted by Transmission Capital Partners to maintain transmission link at Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm

The cable maintenance agreement is designed to ensure that the transmission link is inspected and maintained properly over its service life.  Key features of the agreement include:
    •        A framework agreement for cable related incidents, such as repairs, surveys and re-burial activities.
    •        The selection of Global Marine Energy as the preferred subsea cable repair contractor.
    •        A 24/7 call out facility provided by Global Marine Energy for submarine cable fault location
    •        The production of a set of agreed procedures to cover submarine cable related incidents at the Ormonde site.

A leader in the Offshore Transmission Regime (OFTO), Transmission Capital Partners was selected by Ofgem in 2010 to run the transmission link for the 150 MW Ormonde offshore windfarm off the Cumbrian coast. The Ormonde transmission link transmits around 500 GW hours of electricity every year, enough to supply 100,000 homes and is valued at over £100m.

The Offshore Transmission Regime was established by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Ofgem’s delivery arm, Ofgem E-Serve, to deliver high voltage links to offshore wind farms as cost effectively as possible. Over the coming years high-voltage cable links worth over £20 billion will be needed to connect a potential of around 50GW of offshore wind in UK waters.

“The role of the OFTO is to ensure that once built, the offshore transmission system is properly maintained and repaired as needed.” said Chris Veal, Director at Transmission Capital Partners. “Global Marine has been in the business of maintaining subsea cables for well over 160 years. We are glad to have them as part of the Ormonde Transmission link maintenance programme, and look forward to working with them throughout the coming years to keep the electricity flowing through this important asset.”