Siemens awards Petrofac commissioning support for offshore wind energy in the German North Sea

It is the first contract win since Petrofac established Petrofac Deutschland GmbH in November 2012 to take advantage of the growing offshore wind market.

Petrofac will provide logistics management, platform support services and maintenance services during the commissioning and testing phase of the two High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) offshore platforms.

The HelWin1 and BorWin2 platforms, which will have 576 and 800 megawatts capacity respectively, are currently under construction and will be situated near the islands of Helgoland (HelWin1) and Borkum (BorWin2). Each will connect several surrounding wind farms to the mainland, in total providing enough transmission capacity to supply about two million German households with clean wind power.

Petrofac will support Siemens with a full range of support solutions tailored to the demands of commissioning large platforms in the North Sea, including supply and management of jack-up accommodation barges, supply ships, standby vessels and helicopter transfers. Petrofac will also supply offshore crews to man and maintain platforms during the commissioning period.

Walter Thain, Senior Vice President Europe for Petrofac Offshore Projects & Operations, said:  “With 45% of the world’s current consented offshore wind energy projects located in Germany, this is a growing target market for Petrofac. This contract demonstrates our ability to export our expertise in offshore oil and gas into new markets and new geographies.

We believe we have much to offer the growing offshore wind market, and look forward to working with key players such as Siemens to support Germany’s ambitions for renewable energy.”

Bill Dunnett, Managing Director, Petrofac Offshore Projects & Operations said: “This is a strategic goal in the growth and capability of our offshore business and we are delighted to have secured this contract.”

Petrofac has had a presence in Germany since 2008 providing consultancy and offshore support services to a number of customers. Petrofac’s engagement with the offshore wind market commenced in 2007 and today its offering spans engineering consultancy, particularly electrical power systems engineering through its specialist engineering and environmental consultancy TNEI Services; project and construction management services under a variety of contracting models; maintenance, operations and training.