The UK’s only fabrication yard in the Southern North Sea issued a rallying campaign call to the East of England energy industry at a celebration of its latest project.
Paul Thomson, managing director of Sembmarine SLP, announced its hopes for its next offshore wind contract to more than 130 people gathered to mark the completion of its latest Made in Lowestoft offshore structure.
“We hope to win the offshore substation for East Anglia ONE,” he told the event, organised by the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) on Friday.
“It is called the East Anglia field, we are in East Anglia, we have East Anglian solutions and I am looking for your support. How can we win that together?”
Delegates at the event at OrbisEnergy walked to the nearby quayside to view the giant yellow jacket for the offshore substation for £1.5bn Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm.
Offshore wind farms to be developed off the east of England in the next decade offered huge opportunities for the local workforce and economy, he said.
“We want more projects going forward and continuing to attract investment to make sure we have a workforce for the future.”
Waveney MP Peter Aldous said he would be lobbing government, councils and the industry for future fabrication projects for Sembmarine SLP.
“What can we do to make the most of this opportunity?”
“The challenge that lies ahead is to get the work.”
Mr Thomson appealed to representatives of local, regional and national companies: ” What has the local industry got that we could offer a different approach? New technologies, different ways of doing things, how can we be more cost efficient? It is our future we are looking at.
“We are looking at fields that will be developed over the next 10 years. We need to be very commercially-minded and cost efficient in what we do
The company worked with more than 50 local suppliers, he said.
“It is not just the guys that we employ. It is our suppliers and subcontractors that help us to meet our targets.”
Mr Thomson joined Mr Aldous in Westminster this week for the oil and gas group meeting for fabricators to have feedback from previous meetings with operators and developers.
“Sembmarine SLP has an enormously high reputation for delivering on time, with good staff relations with safety paramount,” Mr Aldous said.
“The challenge is for us to help Sembmarine SLP get these contracts to generate the investment into that yard and move forward with contracts to open up employment opportunities and help move industry down the supply chain.”
Sembmarine SLP has more than 40 years’ experience in manufacturing offshore structures with a portfolio of more than 90 structures in seas worldwide.
The 1500-tonne Dudgeon jacket is sitting on a barge awaiting its sail away early next month.
Mr Aldous said the offshore wind industry was bringing new jobs, productivity and regeneration to the Lowestoft area.
“The role of offshore wind in the local economy should be at the forefront of driving the economy regionally, driving inward investment, securing jobs and creating new jobs. The cascade effect in the wider economy is felt in hotels, shops, pubs.”
Simon Gray, chief executive of EEEGR, which staged the event for its member company said: “If we can guarantee a pipeline of work, there will be a future workforce for Sembmarine SLP
In two weeks, the jacket will be sunk into the seabed in the North Sea using suction bucket technology for the first time on a substation platform in UK waters. The suction buckets, weighing about 110t each, have been welded on to the jacket ready for installation.
The four-deck topside is being completed at the yard to be lifted on to the jacket in August.
The substation is designed to stand in the sea for at least 25 years, sending electricity via cables from Dudgeon’s 67 wind turbines to the onshore substation at Necton, near Swaffham.
