A ground-breaking ceremony was held at the port of Harwich in England today to mark the start of work on a new operations and maintenance base for the 353MW Galloper offshore wind farm, located off the east coast of England.
Work on the £10m base will take about 12 months and create 120 direct and indirect jobs.
Ipswich outfits RG Carter Southern has been contracted for the design and construction of the buildings and Jackson Civil Engineering Group for the access road. Farrans Construction will design, fabricate and install the pontoon.
The base will comprise a 24/7 control room and pontoon for crew transfer vessels, as well as warehousing and office facilities, including a gym, and a new access road off the A120.
It will be home to a team of around 60 people operating and maintaining the wind farm for over 20 years.
O&M for the wind farm, which hit full power from the 56 Siemens Gamesa 6.3MW turbines in March, is currently being carried out from temporary facilities at Harwich International Port.
Galloper general manager Guy Middleton said: “The ground-breaking is a symbolic but significant milestone as it has been quite a journey for us to first select the location of the base and then take it through the onshore and offshore planning consent to now be at the stage where construction is underway.
“We are extremely grateful for the active support we have had throughout our process, from individuals including local Members of Parliament and Councillors, as well as organisations including the Port, Tendring District Council, Marine Management Organisation, Harwich Haven Authority and The Haven Gateway Partnership.”
Galloper is owned by Innogy, Siemens Financial Services, Sumitomo, ESB and a consortium managed by Green Investment Group and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.