UK industrial lifting specialist Granada Material Handling has now secured four contracts to provide bespoke cranes for the installation of foundations and offshore convertor platforms on the first two phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
A sub-contractor with Dogger Bank Wind Farm’s tier one contractors, Smulders and Aibel, Granada will provide more than 200 specialist cranes to support the offshore construction work on Dogger Bank A and B.
Granada previously secured a contract with Aibel to support the installation of the offshore platform for Dogger Bank A. These latest contracts with Aibel and Smulders confirm Granada’s involvement in the installation of foundations on Dogger Bank A, as well as supporting foundation and offshore platform installation on Dogger Bank B.
With a lifting capacity of 1.2te and a radius of up to 5,000mm, the cranes have been specially designed by the Rochdale-based business to meet the technical requirements of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which will be the largest in the world when completed in 2026.
The contract will support a further 20 UK-based jobs. The number of UK jobs that will be created to support the delivery and operation of Dogger Bank Wind Farm so far is approaching 3,000.
Mark Sidwell, managing director at Granada, said: “These contracts are clearly very good news for Granada as a company and also for all our staff, as a recognition of their expertise and commitment. More broadly, it is a significant achievement for the UK wind farm sector and supply chain, generally. It allows GMH to bring more business to our own suppliers and subcontractors.
“The UK is at the cutting-edge of green technology with the know-how, the engineering capability and the capacity to make significant contribution to this vital part of the economy. We at Granada are delighted to be playing our part in growing this sector and we look forward to working with our supply chain partners and continue to deliver on and contribute to the world’s largest offshore wind farm.”
Dogger Bank Wind Farm Project Director, Steve Wilson, said: “We’re delighted to confirm another UK-based company has been selected to support the construction of the world’s biggest offshore windfarm.
“Granada’s Python Davit crane has been specifically designed to suit the work platform layout of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which will install foundations that are among the largest ever used in offshore wind.
“Its unique design will lend itself to safe and efficient maintenance and operation, as well as meeting the demanding technical requirements of a project on this scale.”
Smulders was selected for the supply, fabrication and fit-out of the secondary steel for the transition pieces in late 2020. Smulders will work alongside Sif the company selected to provide fabrication and supply of 190 monopiles and primary steel for the transition pieces.
Aibel has won contracts to provide offshore convertor platforms for all three phases of the wind farm with a revolutionary unmanned High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) offshore substation design. Dogger Bank will be the first HVDC-connected wind farm in the UK, paving the way for other large-scale wind projects.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm will invest £13.5 million in the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership during its lifetime, a funding programme set up to support growth of the UK offshore wind supply chain.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which is to be built more than 130km off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea, is currently being developed in three 1.2GW phases: Dogger Bank A, B and C.
Dogger Bank A and B is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40 per cent), Equinor (40 per cent) and Eni (20 per cent), while Dogger Bank C is a 50:50 joint venture between SSE Renewables and Equinor.
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