• Renewable energy

New contracts at London Array wind farm

London Array, the second largest offshore wind farm in the world, has selected James Fisher Marine Services (JFMS) to provide a complete maintenance solution over the next five years.

A trio of contracts combines inspection of the substation and 175 turbines at the wind farm which is located off the Kent coast, plus a complete suite of topside, subsea and high voltage (HV) management services (cable repair and support) provided by sister company, EDS HV.

This significant maintenance contract brings all JFMS services together under one umbrella to create the first significant maintenance/asset management contract for the group. It confirms the company’s status as a leading provider of integrated systems to the offshore renewables sector.

Jennie Kevis-Stirling, key account manager with JFMS who co-ordinates group activity on London Array explains:

‘When London Array Limited originally put the work out for tender it comprised 11 different scopes of work within three packages but the operations and maintenance team at JFMS put great emphasis on the benefits of providing a group package.’

‘Having one contractual entity like this makes optimising scheduling so much easier and more efficient,’ Jennie says, adding, ‘this cross-group work is built upon the whole ethos of JFMS – it is what the company has evolved to do. The London Array trio of contracts is precisely what we have been building towards for the last five years – it is the culmination of all those efforts coming together.’

JFMS beat off stiff competition from other global companies to win the business.

Fergus Graham, executive director at James Fisher says: ‘This award demonstrates the value of our integrated service offering and our capability to manage every phase of a wind farm’s life cycle from construction support through to decommissioning.’

The high voltage services provided by EDS formed an important part of the contract win.

Ryan Henderson, executive director at EDS explains:

‘Our specialism in high voltage engineering combines effectively with the group capabilities both topside and subsea and has helped enable James Fisher to provide this truly turnkey solution which reduces risk and increases efficiency for clients.’

‘This contract shows the strength that EDS has added to the James Fisher group, enhancing its strategy of being able to provide full turnkey asset management solutions to the industry,’ he adds. ‘Plus, joining the James Fisher group has helped EDS to fulfil its ambition of becoming a prime contractor in the operations and maintenance market.’

On the back of this win, the JFMS team is now involved with and bidding for similar topside type contracts (plant repairs, wiring and subsea services) at other wind farms.

The trio of contracts also puts James Fisher group companies in a strong position for further opportunities at London Array. JFMS now aims to add value to its London Array operations through further exposure to intelligent systems and services, including risk-based inspection, condition monitoring, further multiskilling of personnel and digital solutions.

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