Wood Group awarded contract for major UK offshore wind farm

Wood Group has been awarded a £17 million management contract to fabricate, install, commission, operate and maintain two weather monitoring stations in one of the UK’s largest offshore wind farm developments off the Norfolk and Suffolk coast.

The project will be delivered by the Wood Group Kenny business unit, including leading renewable energy consultancy SgurrEnergy. The masts will collect vital wind data that will be used to design the wind farm and estimate the long term energy production of the site.

SgurrEnergy will manage the supply, installation and commissioning of the full instrumentation, power and ancillary top side monitoring equipment using Carl C lattice tower met masts.

Fabrication and offshore installation management of the monopile structure to support the equipment platform and tower met mast will be undertaken by Wood Group Kenny, applying its extensive offshore industry experience.

Fabrication of the meteorological (met) masts will start in November 2012 and installation in the East Anglia Offshore Wind Zone is planned for summer 2013. As part of the operation and maintenance contract Wood Group Kenny has already recruited four employees to fill key positions within the project.

The Wood Group companies involved have a long track record of delivering renewable energy projects on a global basis and provide expertise at all stages of the project life cycle, ensuring successful delivery of fully integrated projects.

ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall, the joint developers of the East Anglia Offshore Wind zone, have said that the offshore weather monitoring stations will provide essential data for an area bigger than Norfolk and inform key technical and engineering decisions for the wind farm. Steve Wayman, CEO of Wood Group Kenny said, “We are pleased to secure this important project for East Anglia Offshore Wind, bringing the skills we have developed over 30 years working offshore to the fast developing offshore wind industry. This project win highlights the combined capability of Wood Group Kenny companies involved in this key project.”

Wood Group is an international energy services company with $6bn sales, employing more than 41,000 people worldwide and operating in 50 countries. The Group has three businesses – Engineering, Wood Group PSN and Wood Group GTS – providing a range of engineering, production support, maintenance management and industrial gas turbine overhaul and repair services to the oil & gas, and power generation industries worldwide.  www.woodgroup.com.

Wood Group Kenny is the world’s largest independent specialist subsea, pipeline and riser engineering and management contractor employing more than 2500 people worldwide, part of international energy services company, Wood Group. www.woodgroupkenny.com.