First Major Contract Announced for East Anglia Hub

ScottishPower Renewables has awarded a contract worth circa £55m to Fugro, one of the world’s leading geo-data specialists, as part of work to create the East Anglia Hub.

The East Anglia Hub combines three offshore wind farm projects (East Anglia ONE North, Two and Three) into one single delivery programme with a capacity of 3,100MW – enough to power the equivalent of over 2.7 million homes.*

Once complete the East Anglia Hub could provide around 10% of the 30GW target the UK Government has set for offshore wind generation by 2030, playing a major part in contributing to the UK’s target of meeting Net Zero by 2050 and a key role in the UK’s green economic recovery.

The contract will see Fugro undertaking geophysical surveys and site investigations across the East Anglia Hub project sites and export cable corridors in 2020 and 2021.

Work begins this month, starting with the development of site characterisation surveys and investigations focused on East Anglia ONE North and East Anglia Two, which will enable ground model development and preliminary designs.

When completed, the hub will comprise of up to 263 wind turbines and Fugro’s work will include turbine-specific site investigations across all three locations next year.

The initial 1,400MW of power to be generated through the Hub via East Anglia Three has secured planning consent. Planning applications for the further 1,700MW (split between East Anglia One North and East Anglia Two) have been submitted.

Overall investment to support the Hub will be in the region of £6.5 billion, and will bring multiple benefits including reduced construction timescales, sustained contracting opportunities for the supply chain and a reduction in the cost of clean, renewable energy.

The news follows the recent announcement by ScottishPower Renewables of the final commissioning of East Anglia ONE, the offshore windfarm located 43km off the Suffolk coast, which is now fully operational, with 102 turbines capable of producing 714MW of clean energy every year.

Ross Ovens, Project Director for the East Anglia Hub said: “Awarding Fugro this major contract is a significant milestone in the East Anglia Hub project.  Fugro’s work will provide us with the key data we need to plan and develop our sites, keeping us on track to create the Hub which will play a key role in helping the UK reduce its carbon emissions.

“The benefits of the Hub surpass green energy provision and will bring a wealth of opportunities to the local and national economy with long-term investment and job creation during all phases of the project. This initial contract to Fugro is one of the first examples of this and we look forward to bringing more opportunities to specialists in a number of fields, providing sustainable, socio-economic and environmental benefits for decades to come.”

Richard Hill, Fugro’s proposal manager for the project, said: “This is a significant and exciting project for Fugro that will see us deploying multiple geophysical and geotechnical vessels from our fleet to the East Anglia Hub for the next 2 years. Fugro’s innovative technologies, experienced geophysical and geotechnical survey teams, and large capacity for advanced soil testing laboratory in the UK will be crucial in helping ScottishPower Renewables meet their project timescales.”

To learn more about supply chain opportunities available as part of the East Anglia Hub and to receive updates on upcoming tenders and supply chain events, register on our Offshore Wind Supplier Database at: www.scottishpowerrenewables.com/offshoresuppliers