Windfarm work nears completion

Jul 6 2009 by Kelley Price, Evening Gazette

WORK is almost complete on a Hartlepool company’s first offshore wind project.

Heerema has designed and built the main substation platform for the Greater Gabbard windfarm, off the coast of Suffolk.

The project - which is one of the first to be built on such a scale in the UK - created around 200 jobs and it is hoped it will represent the first in a string of offshore projects for the company.

Each standalone turbine tower is connected via a subsea cable to the offshore transformer sub-station. Transformers for the massive farm will be supplied by Heerema’s client, Siemens.

“Oil and gas platforms are our core business,” said Frank Moran, managing director.

“But wind energy diversification fits very well with our existing activities,. Iit’s a natural development - perfect for the type of facilities, skills and workforce we have.

“We are trying to ensure Heerema’s position in the UK offshore construction industry is sustained and the windfarm business will help to smooth out the peaks and troughs of the oil and gas industry, which is fairly cyclic.

“We are bidding for other work in this area. We are very committed in Hartlepool, we see a good future for offshore fabrication.”

The £1.3bn Greater Gabbard windfarm, developed by Scottish and Southern Energy, will see 140 turbines built with a 500MW total capacity.

Heerema is also currently working on a major project to build an oil production sweetening platform for Nexen Buzzard, about 100km north of Aberdeen in the North Sea.

The contract has created 400 jobs for the company.

“The Buzzard Field produces about 10% of the UK's oil, and the new platform is of strategic importance as it will enable this level of production to be maintained into the future,” Mr Moran added.

New Energy is a key strand for the Great North Revolution, launched recently by business organisation the CBI and nebusiness to map out a strategy for growing the regional economy - for details visit

www.nebusiness.co.uk/revolution

See tomorrow’s nebusiness for a full report on the Tees Valley’s offshore wind sector.