James Fisher Marine Services (JFMS), a part of James Fisher and Sons plc, the provider of specialist services to the marine industry , awarded a contract to provide scheduled maintenance services at East Anglia ONE, located approximately 31 Nm southeast of the Port of Lowestoft, where it will help ensure performance at one of the leading offshore wind farms of the future.
According to the company, back in 2015/16 Scottish Power Renewables (SPR) made a 25-year commitment to the Port of Lowestoft. This included a £25m investment into a the recently opened facility that will be the center of all day-to-day operations for the first of its planned wind farms, including marine coordination, and be the home of contractors working on the project.
This latest East Anglia ONE award to JFMS represents a natural transition and follows a number of construction support-related work scopes delivered that have played a part in helping the 714 MW wind farm generate first power in August, including seabed clearance, unexploded ordnance investigation and removal, general marine services, and an integrated package of marine coordination software.
Charlie Jordan, project director at ScottishPower Renewables, said: “We’re delighted to have such a strong supply chain in East Anglia and we’re really pleased to be furthering our working relationship with the James Fisher team. Many fantastic companies from across the East of England have played important roles in bringing East Anglia ONE to fruition and we are committed to working with the region’s businesses on our current and future East Anglia windfarms.”
The contract will have a positive impact on the local area, creating at least 20 new jobs while the company works both onshore and offshore to service the windfarm, ensuring it meets statutory compliance and finding ways to optimize its operations and maintenance, including with pre-emptive solutions.
Fergus Graham, executive director at James Fisher and Sons plc, said: “We’re delighted to extend our close working relationship with ScottishPower Renewables and the East Anglia ONE team as we work together to drive down the cost of operations and maintenance. I am proud of what JFMS has achieved so far, and I’m sure everyone on the team will continue to be fully committed to supporting this vital project.”
Already delivering ongoing topside services, high voltage, and subsea services at a number of other windfarms around the east Anglian coast, this demonstrates the company’s ability to manage an offshore asset across the project lifecycle.
Scott McMillan, operations and maintenance director at James Fisher Marine Services, added: “As a company rooted in Lowestoft, we are really proud to be part of a local supply chain that celebrated a collective achievement when the wind farm generated first power earlier this year, and made huge strides towards helping to produce the clean energy the UK needs, whilst also providing opportunities to the people and businesses of East Anglia.”
Looking ahead JFMS is increasing its local skills base as SPR has announced it will be consolidating all its wind farm projects in the region, combining East Anglia THREE with East Anglia ONE and TWO, into one program of delivery.
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