North Star Renewables has been awarded contracts worth £270m to deliver three service operation vessels (SOVs) to be used on the 3600MW Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the North Sea off England.
North Star’s contract award follows a tender process.
The Scottish company will deliver the SOVs to Dogger Bank wind farm operator Equinor from Summer 2023.
The vessels will be chartered to Dogger Bank by North Star for 10 years, with an option for three one-year extensions.
North Star will deliver one SOV to be used for scheduled maintenance at Dogger Bank A and B.
The vessel is due to be delivered in January 2024 and will also serve Dogger Bank C when this phase of the wind farm is operational.
A further two SOVs will be used for corrective maintenance at Dogger Bank A and B.
Delivery of these vessels is scheduled for July 2023 and July 2024 respectively.
A further contract for an SOV to be used for corrective maintenance at Dogger Bank C will be awarded at a later stage.
North Star will create 130 new full-time UK-based jobs in crewing and shore-based roles for the lifetime of the contract.
Recruitment for the roles will start 12 months ahead of vessel delivery to Dogger Bank’s planned operations base in Port of Tyne.
The new positions will be based across Scotland and the North East of England and will grow North Star’s existing 1400 strong workforce, 950 of which are in the UK and 350 of which are in Scotland.
Scottish Government economy secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “This is excellent news for the Aberdeen based North Star Renewables who are relatively new to the offshore wind sector but have a wealth of experience operating in the North Sea’s oil and gas sector.
“This contract is a welcome example of our domestic supply chain benefitting from the operation and maintenance of an offshore wind project off our coastline, bringing jobs and employment opportunities to communities in Scotland.”
The contract award is a renewables-first for North Star and chief executive, Matthew Gordon, said: “We are pleased and proud to establish a new relationship with Equinor and are looking forward to working collaboratively with them and their partners, SSE Renewables and Eni.
“We are now committed to building on the momentum of this contract award to further our diversification and firmly establish ourselves at the forefront of vessel design and delivery in the global renewables market.”
Halfdan Brustad, vice president for Dogger Bank at Equinor, added: “We are pleased that a UK supplier wins these contracts in a tough international competition.
“The awards will create a good basis for North Star to expand their services to support the UK’s growing offshore wind sector.
“The high-end SOVs will ensure our teams have a comfortable stay offshore, which is important before a day’s work on the turbines. We have incorporated leading technology to ensure we can operate the wind farm safely, sustainably and efficiently.”
Wind farm engineers and technicians will spend two weeks on board each of the high-tech vessels while working on the offshore wind farm.
The SOVs will incorporate logistics platforms to allow wind farm personnel work on the wind farm during the day, ensuring optimum wind turbine availability, and will feature safe, hotel-grade comfort in the living quarters for operational personnel at all other times.
In support of the contract, North Star will establish a new permanent presence at Port of Tyne, delivering a local economic and supply chain boost to the coastal region.