Hutchinson Engineering Lands Dudgeon Contract

UK-based steel structure manufacturer Hutchinson Engineering Limited has won a contract to supply 67 sets of internal and external access ladders, cable ladders, rescue support frames and platforms for the 402 MW Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm.

Hutchinson was awarded the contract after a successful audit by Smulders and the Sif Group BV, which was approved by Statoil. The contract is valued in excess of GBP 500,000.

This is a new export venture for Hutchinson and a first venture for Smulders in sourcing directly from the UK for the Round 3 UK wind farm sector.

Hutchinson has already started direct weekly shipments of loaded sets to Arendonk and Hoboken Yards in Belgium.

The company has recruited additional staff and operatives to deliver this project, and with new quayside facilities now available, it is hopeful of further work as an expanding UK supplier to Smulders.

The Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm is set in waters between 18 and 25 metres with a wind speed of 9.8 metres per second, some 32 kilometres off the coast of North Norfolk in East Anglia.

Covering an area of 35 square kilometres, the project will generate 1.7 TWh of energy annually, enough to power more than 410,000 UK homes.

The GBP 1.5 billion project calls for the installation of 67 SWT -6.0-154 Siemens turbines. The wind farm expected to be operational by the end of 2017.