RWE Innogy UK has awarded a ‘zero lost time incidents’ (LTI) award to its commercial diving contractor at its Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm.
Merseyside based Hughes Sub Surface Engineering Ltd, (Hughes SSE) was recognised for its outstanding contribution with an incident-free 3,529 dives over a three year span.
Jamie May, project manager at RWE and package manager for the commercial diving work at Gwynt y Môr, said: “Diving is an essential component of installation in the sub-sea environment.
“So we are delighted to recognise Hughes SSE for this outstanding effort and the professional and proactive approach shown throughout. To achieve a zero LTI in more than 3,500 commercial dives is exemplary.”
The foundation and cable installation work was carried out across Gwynt y Môr’s 160-turbine site off the North Wales coast1. Once operational, the wind farm will have an installed capacity of 576 MW and will be capable of generating enough energy to meet the annual needs of around 400,000 average UK homes2 – around a third of the total number of homes in all of Wales3.
Ian Hughes, managing director for Hughes SSE, said that to be acknowledged for the services they provide is pleasing and demonstrates the company’s commitment to its partners in the supply chain. He said: “Hughes SSE’s operations on the Gwynt y Môr project have been challenging and rewarding.
“The company has built strong working relationships with numerous contractors during the project and enjoyed working closely with the client. Both our onshore and offshore teams have worked tirelessly to ensure a safe and successful completion, and I am very proud to say that Hughes SSE has been involved and consistently provided the best possible service from start to finish.
“Receiving this award from our client RWE is a fitting end to a successful project for us. We understand that reducing the amount of lost time incidents help our clients reduce costs and help drive change for improved safety in the industry.”
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Gwynt y Môr comprises 160 Siemens 3.6 megawatt (MW) turbines, two offshore substations, 161 inter-array cables, four export cables, an 11km onshore underground cable route and a new 132kV/400kV onshore substation near St Asaph in North Wales.
(1) Gwynt y Môr represents a total investment of more than £2 billion, currently shared between RWE Innogy (60%); Stadtwerke München GmbH, Munich’s municipal utilities company (30%); and Siemens (10%). RWE has also agreed terms for the UK Green Investment Bank to take a 10% share of the project, once the wind farm is complete.
(2) Energy predicted to be generated by the proposal is derived using wind speeds monitored in the local area. This enables a calculation to be made to estimate the average annual energy production for the site based on 160 turbines each of rated capacity 3.6 MW. The energy capture predicted and hence derived homes equivalent figures may change as further data are gathered. Equivalent homes supplied is based on an annual electricity consumption per home of 4700 kWh. This figure is supported by recent domestic electricity consumption data available from The Digest of UK Energy Statistics and household estimates and projections from the UK Statistics Authority.
(3) Office for National Statistics: The 2011 census states there were 1.3million households in Wales on census night.
RWE Innogy UK is the UK subsidiary of RWE Innogy and one of the UK’s leading renewable energy developers and operators. We are committed to developing and operating renewable energy projects to produce sustainable electricity.
We operate 22 hydroelectric power schemes, 32 onshore wind farms and two offshore wind farms, including the UK’s first major offshore wind farm, North Hoyle. Construction of RWE Innogy UK’s Biomass Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant in Fife, Scotland, is now complete and the plant has entered its operational testing phase, and construction of the 576 megawatt Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm, off the North Wales coast, is progressing well.
From development, to construction and operation, our staff in area offices across Wales, Scotland and England work in close partnership with local communities and companies. In 2013, renewable energy sites operated by RWE Innogy UK invested over £1 million into communities across the UK. The investments made by RWE in the UK are creating substantial new job opportunities, developing the supply chain and, very importantly, helping the UK Government achieve the EU target of supplying 30% of electricity from renewables, by 2020.
RWE Innogy pools the renewable energy expertise and generating plant of the RWE Group. RWE Innogy is fully committed to growth in renewable energy across Europe and the UK continues to play a significant role.
RWE Innogy UK is a sister company to RWE npower, a leading UK energy company with around 5.4 million customer accounts.
For further information about RWE Innogy UK and RWE Innogy visit www.rweinnogy.com/uk and www.rweinnogy.com For further information about RWE npower visit www.rwenpower.com
