Sembcorp Marine has secured a contract from a Danish renewable energy group for a maintenance contract on a giant windfarm off the UK.
The contract from Orsted, which has been secured by wholly-owned subsidiary Sembmarine SLP, covers planned preventative maintenance (PPM) for the Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm low-voltage (LV) infrastructure.
Hornsea 2 is one of the world’s largest wind farms and is located some 89 km off the coast of the English county of Yorkshire in the UK North Sea.
The contract involves the maintenance and servicing of the LV and ancillary systems, on both the offshore substation and reactive compensation station with provisions for further service extension.
“This exclusive contract marks the first sole supplier maintenance award for Sembmarine SLP and signifies a key milestone in the UK company’s long-established history,” Sembcorp Marine said.
“It also aligns with Sembmarine SLP’s strategic transition from fabricator to service provider in the offshore renewable space, in line with the current redevelopment of its existing facilities in Lowestoft.”
The offshore substation and reactive compensation station were fabricated in Singapore by Sembcorp Marine and installed on-site by Sembmarine SLP at the end of March this year.
Peter Russell, transmission and maintenance manager at Orsted, said Sembmarine SLP was “perfectly placed to undertake the PPM element of the project following their excellent delivery of the hook-up and commissioning under challenging circumstances”.
Colin Yaxley, managing director of Sembmarine SLP, said the company’s success on the hook-up and commissioning of the Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm platforms had been a large contributing factor to being awarded the PPM contract.
“This exclusive contract will position Sembmarine SLP as Orsted’s main service provider for Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm’s LV and ancillary systems, enabling enhanced operational efficiency and greater risk mitigation for the developer.”
The Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm, which became fully operational at the end of August, is expected to contribute significantly to Orsted’s goal of installing 30GW of offshore wind assets by 2030.
The wind farm has a total capacity of over 1.3 GW and is said to have the ability to provide clean electricity to more than 1.4m homes.
SLP Engineering was acquired by Sembcorp Marine in 2012 after its parent company — Dutch firm Smulders Group Holdco — went into administration.
