Hartlepool port wins contract for 'world's biggest wind farm'

Able Seaton Port has added another major type of project to its portfolio.

Working with Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy) and GeoSea NV (its Belgian subcontractor), Able Seaton Port is providing the installation base and a range of associated services for the Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm.

The contract extends to the foundation package and includes receipt, storage and delivery of 174 c. 900-ton monopiles and 174 c. 350-ton transition pieces. The components are being supplied from a number of different production yards.

The monopiles from EEW’s plant in Rostock, northern Germany and three companies will supply the transition pieces: Bladt from Aalborg, Denmark and OSB and Wilton Engineering, both based on the River Tees.

Teesside-based Able UK operates Able Seaton Port. Its executive chairman, Peter Stephenson, commented: “This is another major milestone for our company.

“We see the success in securing this type of project as very much the result of our ongoing investment in precisely the sort of specialist facilities required by this sector.

“It is particularly pleasing that some of the components are being manufactured in Teesside, proving, yet again, that the area has the pedigree and the infrastructure to compete at the highest level.”

The first collection by GeoSea’s specialist wind installation vessel, Innovation, took place on January 31. Innovation is a ‘state-of-the-art’ offshore heavy lift vessel, 147m in length with a crane capacity of 1,500t.