£3.5m contract to build construction and operations base for wind farm

Work to build a multi-million pound construction and operations base for Triton Knoll offshore wind farm has officially started at Grimsby’s Royal Dock.

Having been awarded the £3.5m contract last month, contractor Tolent Construction has begun work to develop control room, office and warehouse facilities that will become the operations and maintenance base for the 857-megawatt (MW) wind farm.

Once it is completed across almost four acres of the port’s location, the project will create opportunities for local jobs and suppliers as well as over 70 direct, high-skilled jobs which will operate out of the new base.

Coinciding with the start of construction, a recruitment drive to secure the first 20 of the technician roles is due to begin this month, with the aim to having the first post holders based out of Grimsby by the end of this year.

Triton Knoll is the largest offshore wind farm in the portfolio of majority project shareholder innogy, and is currently in construction. Once fully operational, it will be capable of generating enough renewable energy for the equivalent of over 800,000 typical UK households.

Julian Garnsey, Project Director for Triton Knoll and innogy, said: “We’re delighted to be able to welcome Tolent, another north east based firm to the Triton Knoll team. This further reinforces our commitment to investing in and creating long-term, skilled jobs in this region.

“This work in Grimsby represents an exciting phase for Triton Knoll, as it establishes our long-term home in the region, and prepares the way for the start of offshore construction which will begin in early 2020.”

Triton Knoll will consist of 90 MHI Vestas turbines, each with a maximum installed capacity of 9.5MW. The wind farm is owned by innogy, J-Power and Kansai Electric Power, with innogy managing the construction as well as the long-term operation and maintenance works on behalf of its project partners.

The port will support regular, long-term vessel movements including service operations vessels and crew transfer vessels once work finishes on site in July 2020.

Nick Hazelgrave, Regional Commercial Director for Tolent, said: “This contract win is another great addition to our work in the offshore sector, adding to a variety of experience across sectors including industrial, commercial, retail, hospitality and housing.

“Triton Knoll is a new client for us and it’s been fantastic to learn more about their activities across this industry as we walked around the site. Our team is now underway with delivering another quality job as we look to increase our work across the central region of the UK.”

Tolent will also install an 800 sq m modular building and associated services to accommodate the quayside operations, along with a car park for the wind farm.

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