TWO Scottish firms have been contracted to construct an operations and maintenance base at Eyemouth Harbour as part of the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind project.
Muir Construction, based in Fife, will design and build the three-storey, 1,040 square metre building and its accompanying two-storey, 538 square metre storage warehouse.
Whilst Inland and Coastal, of Moray, will design, manufacture and install the harbour’s new pontoon on the marine side of the harbour to make the basin accessible to crew transfer vessels and technicians.
The £1.4 billion Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind project, which is to be located 15.5km off the Fife coast, will have the capability of powering around 375,000 homes once it is completed in 2023.
As part of the project, NnG, which is jointly owned by EDF Renewables UK and ESB, signed a lease with Eyemouth Harbour Trust in February which confirmed the harbour as the operations and maintenance base for the project’s 25-year lifespan.
Muir Construction has started enabling works with construction expected to start this month (June), while Inland and Coastal has completed the pontoon design with fabrication to get under way this month and installation to start later this year.
Matthias Haag, NnG project director, said, “I’m really pleased to welcome Muir Construction and Inland and Coastal to the NnG project. We are fully committed to using the Scottish supply chain wherever possible and these two fantastic companies join a long list of Scottish business who are supporting delivery of this hugely important infrastructure project for Scotland. Both have a wealth of experience and expertise in their field, and I look forward to working closely with them on the construction of our O&M base and pontoon.
“I’m really pleased that as well as supporting the 25-year lifespan of the offshore wind farm the O&M base will bring with it fantastic socio-economic benefits for the town of Eyemouth and the local community.”
Muir Construction’s business development director, David Fairweather, added, “Working in the renewables sector and particularly with NnG, has been one of the most pro-active and collaborative procurement experiences encountered by us at Muir Construction. I believe the positive impact that power generation of this nature enables, flows through to the attitude of the delivery team, building on what we hope will be a long-term relationship for Muir Construction with the renewables sector.
“Bringing our expertise and experience of working in port and quay side locations has been very satisfying and working closely with NnG and Eyemouth Harbour Trust is something we are very much looking forward to.”
Inland and Coastal’s senior commercial manager, Vincent Carey, said, “We are delighted to be involved in such a keystone project and have the opportunity to contribute to a renewable energy future for Scotland and the rest of the UK. The offshore wind industry is a very young and exciting sector to be working in at present. At Inland and Coastal we are well placed to provide the highest level of service and solutions thanks to our highly experienced in-house design team.
“We look forward to working with NnG to deliver a high quality berthing pontoon facility at Eyemouth to ensure safe access to vessels long in to the future.”
