ScottishPower Renewables, developer of the 714MW East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm, held a supply chain event at the Norfolk Showground which saw hundreds of businesses from across the region and further afield attend to hear about the opportunities on the project.
The event, held on Thursday, 2 March, formed part of the East of England Energy Group’s Southern North Sea (SNS) conference.
ScottishPower Renewables is in the process of finalising its major contracts for the construction and supply of components for the GBP 2.5 billion East Anglia ONE wind farm and together with its contractors outlined future opportunities on the project.
The supply chain event saw a number of the company’s East Anglia ONE contractors present to the audience about the scope of works to be carried out. Each contractor also detailed the services they would be looking to utilise to carry out the works and explained how businesses could get involved in the project.
Opportunities on the construction of East Anglia ONE range from civil and electrical works, vessel and ports support, to technicians, logistics and more.
“We are already working with a number of companies from across the region and together with our suppliers we are looking forward to working with many more,” Charlie Jordan , project director of East Anglia ONE, said.
“This is an exciting time for East Anglia ONE, there are so many opportunities and it’s great to be able to hold an event like this to encourage local companies to get involved and benefit from the construction of the project. East Anglia ONE is one of four projects we are planning to build in the Southern North Sea and we are very keen to build a strong supply chain and a skilled local workforce.”
East Anglia ONE is being built approximately 42 kilometres off the coast of East Anglia. The electricity generated from the offshore wind farm will be brought onshore at Bawdsey, Suffolk, by cables which will then be laid underground 37km to Bramford, where a substation is being constructed adjacent to the National Grid substation.
Information was also provided on the current status of the project by ScottishPower Renewables offshore managing director, Jonathan Cole, and East Anglia ONE project director, Charlie Jordan.
Onshore construction of East Anglia ONE is due to commence in spring this year, with offshore construction due to commence in 2018.
The first turbines are planned to be installed in 2019, with plans for the project to be fully operational during 2020.