Siemens has awarded a four-year contract to UK heavy-lift specialist ALE for the supply and deployment of cranes, transport equipment and personnel at harbour-based offshore wind sites in the UK and Germany.
The contract covers the period June 2016 to 2019 and is valued at over £43m.
Siemens said approximately three quarters of the contract will involve blade export or pre-assembly at the company’s new facilities at Green Port Hull.
The work will cover onshore heavy lifting, transport and pre-assembly for offshore wind operations.
The first offshore wind power plant to benefit from the Hull facility will be the 402MW Dudgeon offshore wind farm off the Norfolk coast, which will comprise 67 of Siemens’ 6MW offshore wind turbines.
ALE will be involved in the handling and pre-assembly of imported towers, nacelles and blades to be used on the project.
Siemens said that, where possible, a “roll-on/roll-off” process will be used, instead of lifting.
“This method provides more safety and cost efficiency when it comes to moving up-to-75-metre -long rotor blades, and nacelles weighing around 360 tonnes,” Siemens said.
Following the Dudgeon project, the 580MW Race Bank offshore wind farm will mobilise and will involve pre-assembly and supply of some of the first blades manufactured at the Hull factory.
Siemens said it is less than five months until the first wind turbine blades are manufactured by the company in Hull, with the grand opening next year.
Siemens wind power division managing director Clark MacFarlane said: “Given the high proportion of the work covered by this contract that will take place in the UK, we are delighted to be able to appoint a British supplier with an international reputation in this field.
“This contract is a great step for our development in Hull and the offshore industry in the UK which is committed to growing the content of offshore wind farms that is made in the UK.”
ALE UK director Darren Adams said: “We are delighted to have secured this contract; to be involved in the biggest onshore handling project in the UK and Europe is a massive achievement and is an indicator of our handling capabilities in the offshore market.”
Image: aerial view of the Hull facility (Siemens)
