Certex UK wins contract on world’s largest offshore windfarm

The contract covers inspection and maintenance of cranes, personnel lifts, general lifting, and safety equipment across all of the wind turbines and balance of plant.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm is an offshore wind farm being developed in three phases – Dogger Bank A, B and C – located between 130km and 190km from the North East coast of England at their nearest points.

Collectively they will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

Each phase will have an installed generation capacity of 1.2GW and represents a multi-billion-pound investment. Combined, they will have an installed capacity of 3.6GW and will be capable of powering up to 6 million homes annually.

The windfarm is a joint venture partnership between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Vårgrønn (20%). SSE Renewables is leading on the development and construction, and Equinor will operate the wind farm on completion and during its expected operational life of around 35 years.

Terry Hoenes, Renewables Divisional Manager, Certex UK said: “We have a long-established history working with Equinor on the Greater Wash windfarms off East Anglia and are delighted to have been awarded the 5-year framework. Our hard work over the years providing a strong service and the work put in to produce a competitive tender have paid off and we look forward to starting work on the GE platform wind turbine, the first of its kind in the UK”.

Certex UK Engineering Services Division is part of the Lifting Solutions Group of 22 companies with over 100 locations worldwide, with the renewable energy sector largely being served to date from the UK, Taiwan and Denmark. However, a newly launched global renewables division incorporates additional companies in Germany, Spain, France, China, and the United States, which has recently pivoted towards wind energy.

Ian Shaw, Engineering Services Divisional Manager, said “This is another great step forward for our Engineering Services Division, and working closely with Equinor, gives us the opportunity to introduce more new starters to the industry through our mentorship and training programmes. Equinor has always been an excellent ambassador for development of new starters which helps us to grow a sustainable skilled workforce.” Shaw added “The wider renewables industry growth is continually accelerating, and we need to ensure the supply chain and pool of skilled workers are available, to play our part in this we have developed a route to career programme covering the entry level GWO safety training at our newly accredited facility in Doncaster and the technical inspection training at our site in Great Yarmouth. We have also recently started working with ex forces resettlement agencies and look forward to introducing many more new people to a career in wind”.