Siemens Picks Houlder to Design Sea Fastenings for Galloper Turbines

Siemens Wind Power has awarded UK-based marine engineers, Houlder Ltd, the contract for the design of sea fastenings for the 336MW Galloper wind farm project.

The Galloper wind farm construction consists of 56 Siemens 6MW SWT-6.0-154 turbines.

Critical to the successful construction of the offshore turbines is the design of sea fastenings work, and for the first time a contract for this work has been awarded to a UK-based company, Siemens said.

Christoph Schott, Project Procurement Manager for the Galloper development said: “Siemens is delighted to be able to award Houlder Ltd this important contract. It further underlines our commitment, as demonstrated by the construction of our blade manufacturing factory in Hull, to UK content and to keeping our operations and supply chain as close to the customer as we are able. Previously, all such design work had been sourced from Denmark or the Netherlands. We look forward to a long and productive association with Houlder.”

The contract covers design work of items vital to meeting milestones for the project including design of a blade rack, tower and nacelle fastenings among others.

“Keeping wind turbine components safe and secure in transit requires innovative seafastening design work. This is exactly the kind of offshore engineering challenge we thrive on, so we are delighted to have been awarded the work. Being a UK first makes it all the more worthy of celebration. We look forward to working with Siemens Wind Power and feel confident the local design element of the UK supply chain will continue to grow as projects gather pace,” Frederic Perdrix, Houlder’s Chief Technical Officer, said.

Galloper is an extension of the existing and fully operational Greater Gabbard wind farm off the coast of Suffolk.

It will be constructed by RWE on behalf of the Galloper Wind Farm Limited partners, with the offshore construction phase scheduled to commence in the summer of 2016. The wind farm is expected to commence operations in March 2018.

Siemens selected Peel Ports Great Yarmouth as the assembly location and installation base for the Galloper turbines.