Seaway7 lands key contract for 1.4GW East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm

Seaway7, a subsidiary of the Subsea7 Group that operates heavy transport vessels, has secured a significant contract from ScottishPower Renewables for the 1.4GW East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm in the UK North Sea.

This contract, valued between $500 million and $750 million according to Subsea7, tasks Seaway7 with transportation and installation of foundations and inner-array cables for the wind energy project. This follows an announcement last year that named Seaway7 as the preferred bidder for this contract.

As part of its contractual obligations, Seaway7 will undertake several tasks, including the transportation, logistics, and installation of 95 monopile foundations. The contract also involves preparing the seabed and providing scour protection. Further, Seaway7 will design, supply, and install 95 inner-array cables. To meet these extensive transportation requirements, the company will deploy its fleet of heavy transportation, heavy lifting, and cable lay vessels.

Seaway7 CEO Stuart Fitzgerald commented on the integrated nature of the contract, stating, “The combination of both foundation and inner-array cable installation, as well as the utilization of our heavy transportation vessels, further demonstrates our extensive capabilities across the complete value chain.”

Seaway7 secures major contract for the 1.4GW East Anglia THREE offshore wind project. Photo courtesy of Seaway7.

The project will be managed from Seaway7’s Aberdeen and Sutton offices in the UK, with the early engineering works set to commence in 2023 and offshore activities scheduled to begin in 2024.

East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm is a part of the larger 2.9GW East Anglia Hub development located in the southern North Sea. The wind farm will be positioned 69km offshore from Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast.

Ross Ovens, managing director of ScottishPower Renewables East Anglia Hub offshore wind farms, expressed his excitement about the major contract with Seaway7 for East Anglia THREE. “We’ve been moving at pace to ensure East Anglia THREE can start producing more green electricity in the UK, for the UK, as quickly as possible,” Ovens said.

Earlier in the month, ScottishPower Renewables confirmed a separate contract with NKT for the East Anglia THREE offshore farm’s high-voltage DC (HVDC) export power cable system. Worth more than €250 million, this contract involves the design, manufacture, and installation of the entire 320kV HVDC export power cable system.