Saipem awarded offshore wind contracts

Italy’s Saipem has been awarded new offshore wind contracts, for projects currently under development off the coasts of England, Scotland and France, worth a combined €90 million ($103.8 million).

Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farms, a joint venture between Equinor and SSE Renewables, has awarded a contract to Saipem for the transportation and installation of two offshore HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) platforms for the first two phases of the Dogger Bank project: Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B. Both platforms will have a capacity of 1.2 GW and will consist of a ca. 2,900-ton jacket and a ca. 8,500-ton topside. Dogger Bank will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm when completed and is located over 130km off the North East coast of England. The project is the first to use HVDC technology in the UK’s offshore wind market.

Saipem has also been awarded an installation contract by Seaway 7 related to the Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm, a 1,075MW joint venture project between SSE Renewables (49 per cent) and Total (51 per cent) off the East coast of Scotland. The scope of work entails the installation of 114 foundations for an equivalent number of wind turbines.

Lastly, Saipem has been awarded a contract for the transportation and installation of the jacket and topside of the offshore substation at St-Brieuc offshore wind farm, located in Brittany, France, which is being developed by Ailes Marines, part of the Iberdrola group. All project management and engineering activities shall be executed by Saipem SA, Saipem’s French subsidiary established in Paris.

These offshore installation projects will be carried out by the crane vessel Saipem 7000.

Francesco Racheli, chief operating officer of Saipem’s E&C Offshore Division, commented: “These new contracts confirm Saipem’s participation in the most relevant offshore windfarm developments and are the tangible results of a strategy which has led us to become a global reference player in energy transition. This significant achievement has been attained by leveraging on our capabilities, our technological flexibility and our distinctive assets”.