Harland & Wolff to Build NnG Offshore Wind Farm Jackets in Methil, Creating 290 Jobs

InfraStrata's Harland & Wolff has won a contract with Saipem to build and load out eight wind turbine generator (WTG) jacket foundations for the EDF Renewables and ESB Energy-owned Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm project, located in the outer Firth of Forth in Scotland.

The contract value is around £26million (~$35,7 million), with the contract scheduled to start from July 1, 2021.

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, formerly owned by BiFab, which InfraStrata bought in February. 

"Should there be an opportunity to further optimize the works program and make the contract more cost-effective, the Company and Saipem will work jointly to spread additional workstreams within the contract across the Company's three other sites; Belfast, Arnish and Appledore," InfraStrata said.

According to Saipem, the deal will create around 290 direct and indirect Scottish jobs. Saipem is the maint contractor for the supply and installation of the foundations which will be used to support and anchor NnG’s wind turbine generators to the seabed. Saipem will also supply and install an additional two jackets for the offshore substations.

John Wood, CEO of InfraStrata, said: "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. Burntisland Fabrication's yard at Methil cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Bill Kasman - geograph.org.uk/p/5702998

More importantly, it validates our strategic vision of expanding the Group's fabrication footprint into regions that are strategically located within close 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 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."

Offshore construction for NnG project started in August last year with the installation of casings for the piles and preparing the seabed in advance of the arrival of the steel foundation jackets. 

"Important day"

Matthias Haag, NnG Project Director, said: “This is an important day, for the offshore wind sector in Scotland and for our project. When we announced our main contractors in 2019, we made clear our commitment to the Scottish supply chain and the role it has to play in the construction of NnG. That’s why this contract signing is such good news. 

"We are pleased the contract has been awarded to Harland & Wolff with the bulk of the work taking place in Scotland. With the Port of Dundee supporting the project as NnG’s marine hub, the Port of Leith as the marshalling point for the pile casings and planning permission recently granted for an Operations and Maintenance Base at Eyemouth Harbour, Harland & Wolff joining our project is yet further evidence of our commitment to Scotland”.

Mauro Piasere, Head of Offshore New Energies in Saipem’s E&C Offshore Division, commented: “The Neart na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Farm is a key project for Saipem in an area of rising growth and potential such as the North Sea. The execution by InfraStrata stands to demonstrate the possibility for the North Sea fabrication industry to play a competitive role in the renewables market. Our vision is to create value in those countries where we operate and this collaboration with InfraStrata confirms this and allows us to contribute to the country's system involving the local supply chain”.

NnG will supply enough low carbon electricity for around 375,000 homes, will have a capacity of circa 450 megawatts (MW), and will offset over 400,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.