London Array Hires James Fisher

James Fisher Marine Services (JFMS) has been appointed by London Array to deliver Balance of Plant (BoP) Operations and Maintenance (O&M) services covering the wind farm’s next five years of operation.

JFMS will be responsible for BoP inspection and maintenance services on London Array’s 175 turbines, its meteorological mast and statutory inspections on two offshore substations.

“We look forward to working with James Fisher on this important scope of work. We have been impressed with James Fisher Marine Services’ comprehensive range of solutions, its ability to deliver innovative and bespoke services as well as the company’s strong QHSE record and its commitment to excellence,” Jonathan Duffy, general manager at London Array, said.

In appointing JFMS, London Array will also benefit from access to the wider capability offered by the James Fisher group, in effect providing a single source supplier for multiple projects.

“For some time our focus has been on creating a service that enables our customers to draw upon JFMS’ full range of O&M capabilities and assets to deliver, through a single contracting interface, a fully-integrated solution,” Martin Myhill Sisley, managing director of JFMS renewables services division, said.

“We’re delighted to have been chosen by London Array and by having a five-year contract award, we’ll be able to focus on long term operational efficiencies, cost reduction and improve overall uptime.”

JFMS’ integrated model provides a range of in-house capabilities including solutions in blade inspection and repair, ship-to-turbine oil change, offshore wind farm management system, diving, ROVs, unexploded ordnance, statutory inspections, cable stability rectification, surveying, monitoring, scour protection, vessel and personnel provision.

London Array is currently the world’s largest operational offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary with a capacity of 630MW.