Around £10m worth of development work is set to take place at the Port of Lowestoft to support East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm.
ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) and Associated British Ports (ABP) have awarded contracts for the works at the port, which will be the home of SPR’s £2.5bn offshore wind farm.
In order to develop a new state-of-the-art operations and maintenance base, the company is leasing land adjacent to Hamilton Dock from ABP.
SPR has appointed NRS Group to design and construct the operations and maintenance building at the site, which will include specialist offices and warehousing.
The new building will help to support the offshore phase of construction work on the wind farm, as well as the 30 years or more operational lifespan of the project.
At the same time, ABP is constructing pontoons and some essential land-side utilities to enable crew transfer vessels to operate from Hamilton Dock. ABP have engaged McLaughlin & Harvey to design and construct the facilities.
Charlie Jordan, ScottishPower Renewables Project Director for East Anglia ONE, said: “Lowestoft is going to be the home of our wind farm for the next three decades, so it is pleasing to see construction work under way at the port.
“The new facility will be a hive of activity for engineers and technicians, and the base for our marine operations to support the day-to-day operations of the wind farm. In total, around 100 people will be employed full-time at the port when East Anglia ONE is completed, and the thousands of contractors and supply chain operators using the site every year will contribute substantially to the local economy.”
Port manager Paul Brooks said: “The Port of Lowestoft has a proud history of serving the offshore renewables sector and we are delighted that our port has been selected to become home ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia ONE wind farm.”
Andrew Harston, ABP director short sea ports, said: ”SPR have made a clear commitment to both Lowestoft and Suffolk with the East Anglia ONE development and have provided a clear pipeline of future projects that will secure the future of Lowestoft and the renewable energy sector for many decades ahead.
“I would like to thank Charlie Jordan and the SPR team for selecting ABP as their port partner and for the hard work that has taken place on both sides to make this project happen in Lowestoft.“
ABP’s ports at King’s Lynn, Lowestoft and Ipswich contribute £340m to the UK economy every year and support 3,577 jobs in the region and 5,000 jobs nationally.
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