Able UK's Hartlepool port set for £1.5m investment after winning huge wind farm contract

Able Seaton Port (ASP) will serve as a base where wind turbines will be assembled.

And as it gets ready to start the contract – with MHI Vestas which has begun a major ramp-up in UK offshore wind activity – Able is investing £1.5million on dredging work.

Able will be the base for pre-assembling turbine tower sections, blades and nacelles (the part that houses the generator and gear box), starting from next month when all the parts arrive.

Then, they will be loaded onto vessels heading to the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm.

Peter Stephenson, Able UK’s Executive Chairman, said the deal was ‘a massive vote of confidence in the UK, ourselves and the Teesside supply chain’.

Able is already known for its decomissioning work. The Hartlepool Mail told in June how Brent Alpha was decommissioned at Able Seaton Port.

It came a year after another big deal for Able.

The site saw the arrival of the huge 25,000 tonne Brent Bravo oil platform which was transported to Able for her final voyage.

Mr Stephenson said Able was ‘increasingly involved in the renewable energies of the future. In many respects we have the bases covered being heavily involved at both ends of the offshore energy sectors.”

He said the offshore wind sector was “on the cusp of something very special.

"We have a clear and unambiguous policy from Whitehall through the Sector Deal in the Industrial Strategy, and the increasingly demanding targets for both power generation and the extent of UK content.

"Combine this with the sector’s extraordinary efforts in terms of developing new products and significantly reducing costs and the sector is set to become a dominant factor in a post Covid-19 UK economy.”

The contract comes on the day Prime Minister Boris Johnson said every UK home would be powered by electricity from offshore wind farms within a decade.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “It is fantastic that not only is the Government showing another commitment to investing in clean energy, but it is once again realising that Teesside is the best place to lead the industries and jobs of the future.”

Triton Knoll will be powered by 90 turbines, installed 20 miles off the Lincolnshire coast in the first three months of next year.

MHI Vestas VP and UK Country Manager, Julian Brown said: “Able UK’s close collaboration with MHI Vestas to prepare the ASP site for Triton Knoll has made it an easy choice to use this top-class facility.”

Julian Garnsey, Project Director for Triton Knoll and RWE Renewables, said: “At Triton knoll we are committed to ensuring that our investments from this flagship project benefit local coastal communities, and the UK’s expanding offshore supply chain as much as possible.

“As part of that commitment we have made a significant investment to establish wind turbine handling facilities for the first time at Able Seaton Port. This places the North East of England at the heart of the delivery of Triton Knoll, and leaves a legacy for future offshore wind farm projects to be constructed from the region.”

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