By Andy Reay, A2SEA Regional Manager for the UK
The Humber may not be that long as rivers go (just 59 kilometres from one end to the other), but its lack of length isn’t about to stop it being one of the busiest spots in offshore wind energy next year. In fact, the area will be home to both operations & maintenance projects, as well as considerably more offshore construction, too.
Actually, the Humber isn’t a river at all. Situated on the east coast of northern England and flowing into the North Sea, it’s a tidal estuary formed where the River Trent and the River Ouse meet each other. In 2017, for the first time, A2SEA will be bringing two jack-up vessels to the area, kicking off two new projects that will see components being loaded out from Siemens’ new £160 million turbine blade manufacturing, project construction, assembly and service facility at Green Port Hull.
Early in January, SEA CHALLENGER will be the first installation vessel to load from the new facility at Alexander dock – from a commercial point of view, that is. She will be headed for the 402MW Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm being constructed for Statoil, Masdar and Statkraft. Next up, it’s DONG Energy’s 580 MW Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm – this time served by another A2SEA vessel: SEA INSTALLER. Since the projects are for a time running in parallel, the vessels are likely to be seen together every now and then – a promise to be a pretty impressive sight!
The vessels might be provided from a non UK company, but there are plenty of local UK manpower, materials and other resources being deployed. With the help of Team Humber Marine Alliance, Green Port Hull organisation and UK Trade & Investment, A2SEA has identified and contracted suppliers to form a local supply chain for the two projects. Some of the suppliers are from the region itself, others hail from around the rest of the United Kingdom.
We’re looking forward to exchanging know-how and capabilities with everyone to ensure the success of the 2017 projects – and hopefully many more to come on the east coast.
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