One of the owners of North Norfolk’s Walsingham Estate placed the first stone in the wall of Scira’s operational base at a small ceremony to mark a key stage in the building’s construction.
The laying of the stone by Elizabeth Meath Baker was carried out on Tuesday 19th June 2012 at the construction site, in Egmere, three miles south of Wells-next-the-Sea. Together with her husband Clovis, Mrs Meath Baker owns the estate, which will be home to the Scira Offshore Energy team from early next year.
The base has taken shape rapidly since its construction began in March and the ceremony marked the milestone of the erection of the steel frame.
The facility is on schedule be completed by the end of the year and is being constructed by Swaffham-based Mansell Construction Services, who are using local subcontractors and suppliers within a 30 mile radius.
Regional Managing Director of Mansell , Dean Burgess presented a specially engraved ceremonial trowel to Scira which will ultimately be displayed in a cabinet in the Operations and Maintenance base, stating “Mansell are committed to providing sustainable solutions on time to meet our customers’ requirements. We are delighted to be working with Scira Offshore Energy Limited utilizing renewable energy sources using low to zero technologies as part of the design and construction of the new Operations and Maintenance Centre.”
Scira’s General Manager Einar Strømsvåg said, “It’s exciting to see the development of our purpose built Operations and Maintenance base, as this reflects Scira’s evolution into a local company which will be part of the local community for many years to come. Moreover the permanent operations base will provide opportunities for us to develop our schools engagement programme, as we now have a home venue for educational events to support our strategy to develop skills in the local labour market.”
Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm is nearing its final stage of construction with completion scheduled for late summer 2012. The project is owned equally by Statoil and Statkraft through joint venture company Scira with Statoil the project manager during construction.
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Offshore WIND staff, June 22, 2012; Image: Scira