The contract involves the provision of detailed substation designs for Race Bank, one of DONG Energy’s major offshore wind development projects in the UK. Atkins is also designing the substations for DONG Energy’s Walney and Burbo extension projects. The project, located in the Greater Wash area off the east coast of England, has a capacity of up to 580 megawatt with offshore construction due to commence from 2017.
“DONG Energy has a tough target to cut the cost of offshore wind by 35 – 40 per cent by 2020” said the company’s UK country manager, Benj Sykes. “We are doing this through standardising the building of a wind farm. Atkins is working with us to provide a design for five substations that can be applied to three of our projects. This will enable a production line approach to fabrication, rather than a bespoke solution each time and will reduce costs without compromising safety and reliability. It becomes more like buying off the shelf than ordering a unique product and that brings cost savings.”
Dave Parkin, managing director of Atkins’ Power and Renewables business, added that Atkins has over 30 years’ experience with oil and gas offshore structures which can be applied directly to the offshore wind sector, in terms of construction and operation in deeper waters, foundation and jacket technology, the use of heavy-lift vessels and asset maintenance offshore.
Minister Business and Energy Michael Fallon said that he wants to see more UK firms throughout the supply chain profiting from a growth in sustainable power, describing the new Atkins contract as a promising step towards the creation of more highly skilled jobs within a dependable and affordable energy mix.
Minister for Business and Energy, Michael Fallon, said: “I want to see more UK firms throughout the supply chain profiting from the growth in sustainable power. This contract is a promising step towards the creation of more.”
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