Dogger Bank Contract Award

RNS Number : 9642V

Tekmar Group PLC

17 December 2021

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

TEKMAR GROUP PLC

("Tekmar Group", "Tekmar" or the "Company")

Dogger Bank Contract Award

Tekmar Group (AIM: TGP), a leading provider of technology and services for the global offshore energy markets, is pleased to announce a contract award by DEME Offshore to supply Cable Protection Systems (CPS) for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the UK.

Dogger Bank is a 3.6GW offshore wind farm located 130km off the North East coast of England. The project is a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor and Eni and is set to become the world's largest offshore wind farm, capable of generating enough renewable energy to power six million UK homes once fully operational.

Tekmar Energy has signed a contract with EPCI contractor DEME Offshore to design, manufacture and supply Generation 10 TekTube CPS to protect subsea inter array cables on the first two phases of the project, Dogger Bank A and B, with a customer option for the third phase, Dogger Bank C.

All systems will be manufactured at Tekmar's state-of-the-art facility in the North East of England which is located less than 50km from Dogger Bank's export cable landfall site in Teesside for the third phase of the project. The first systems are expected to be delivered from August 2022 with production continuing into 2024.

The project is benefiting from Tekmar Group's unique engineering capability and extensive industry experience, with Tekmar Energy working with sister companies Subsea Innovation, AgileTek Engineering and Ryder Geotechnical to design a holistic cable protection solution that is engineered to overcome the wind farms challenging site conditions.

Tekmar Group CEO Alasdair MacDonald, said :

"This landmark contract reinforces our global market leading position in one of our core technologies and is testament to Tekmar's range of in-house engineering capabilities to address complex engineering challenges and optimise and de-risk client projects. Whilst this contract has limited financial impact on the current financial year, we are encouraged by this and other recent awards, which support our strategic plan as we work through the ongoing challenges we highlighted in our October trading statement. These pressures make for a more challenging near-term environment for the industry in terms of managing costs, contract delivery and associated payment cycles. We are prioritising managing the business through these constraints, alongside securing the valuable contracts on projects like Dogger Bank that highlight the opportunity we have ahead."

Dogger Bank Wind Farm Project Director Steve Wilson, said:  

"We are delighted to welcome this leading north-east manufacturer to the supply chain for the world's largest offshore wind farm. To secure this contract on our ground-breaking development, Tekmar has demonstrated world-class capability and expertise. With more than 3,000 UK jobs now associated with the construction and operation of the wind farm, we can say with certainty that with the right support and the right opportunities, our offshore wind supply chain here in the UK is becoming increasingly globally-competitive."

Enquiries:

Tekmar Group plc Alasdair MacDonald, CEO Derek Bulmer, CFO	[phone]
Singer Capital Markets (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) Rick Thompson / Rachel Hayes	[phone]
Berenberg (Joint Broker) Chris Bowman / Ben Wright / Ciaran Walsh	[phone]
Bamburgh Capital Limited (Financial PR & Investor Relations) Murdo Montgomery	[phone]

About Tekmar Group plc  -  www.tekmargroup.com

Tekmar Group plc's vision is to be the leading provider of technology and services for the global offshore energy markets.  The Group has five primary operating companies; these are Tekmar Energy Limited, Subsea Innovation Limited, AgileTek Engineering Limited, Ryder Geotechnical Limited and Pipeshield International limited.

Tekmar Energy is a global market leader in protection systems for subsea cable, umbilical and flexible pipe. Tekmar Energy has been trusted to protect billions of Euros worth of assets in the offshore wind, oil & gas, wave, tidal and interconnector markets since 1985.

Subsea Innovation is a global leader in the design, manufacture and supply of complex engineered equipment and technology used in the offshore energy market. Its products include large equipment handling systems which operate on the back of pipelay installation vessels; emergency pipeline repair clamps (EPRC) which protect major oil and gas pipelines, and bespoke equipment for use in the construction of offshore energy projects.

AgileTek Engineering is an award-winning subsea engineering consultancy for offshore energy projects. AgileTek helps its clients de-risk projects through advanced computer simulation and analysis.  AgileDat, a division of AgileTek, provides software development, cloud architecture and data analytics services. 

Ryder Geotechnical provides expert geotechnical design and consulting services to the offshore wind and subsea oil and gas sectors. Services include offshore structure foundation design, geohazard assessment and subsea cable routing and burial assessment.

Pipeshield International is a market leading provider of specialised subsea protection solutions in the form of concrete mattresses used for the stabilisation and impact protection of subsea equipment in areas where they cannot be buried and further to limit the development of scour (seabed erosion) particularly local to that of a foundation, pipeline or in marine ports.

Tekmar Energy is headquartered in Newton Aycliffe in the United Kingdom; AgileTek operates from an office in London; Subsea Innovation has its head office and manufacturing centre in Darlington, United Kingdom. Ryder operates in Newcastle and within AgileTek London, Pipeshield headquarters are in Lowestoft with manufacturing in Montrose and Blyth. Tekmar Group plc also has strategic supply bases and representation across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm facts:

· The 3.6GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be the world's largest offshore wind farm when completed in 2026

· It is being built in three 1.2GW phases: Dogger Bank A, B and C.

· Dogger Bank A and B is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni (20%). In November 2021 SSE Renewables and Equinor, 50:50 joint venture partners in Dogger Bank C, announced Eni will take a 20% stake in the third phase, with SSE Renewables and Equinor maintaining 40% stakes each. The deal is expected to complete in Q1 2022, subject to regulatory approvals .

· SSE Renewables is lead operator for the development and construction of Dogger Bank Wind Farm. Equinor will be lead operator of the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years.

· Financial Close on Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B was reached in November 2020, with Financial Close for Dogger Bank C reached in December 2021. Taken in aggregate, reaching Financial Close on all three phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm is the largest offshore wind project financing to date globally.

· Consent for Dogger Bank Wind Farm was granted in 2015.

· Each of the three phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm secured 15-year CfD contracts for 1.2GW of low carbon power for of low carbon power production in the UK's third CfD Allocation Round, announced September 2019.

·   In May 2021, Dogger Bank Wind Farm took another major step forward after passing a required delivery milestone under the UK's Contracts for Difference scheme for low carbon power.

· Dogger Bank Wind Farm is located in the North Sea, with each phase more than 130km from the Yorkshire Coast.

· Onshore construction began in 2020 and is currently underway for Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B, with offshore construction on Dogger Bank A due to begin in Q2 2022. First power is expected in Summer 2023 and Summer 2024 for Dogger Bank A and B, respectively, with commercial operations to follow around 6 months later.

· Onshore cable installation civils works for Dogger Bank C will start in Q1 2022, with construction of the onshore convertor station to commence in Q2 2022. Offshore export cable installation will commence in Q1 2024 with offshore platform installation to commence in Q2, 2024. Foundation installation will commence in Q3, 2024 while turbine installation will commence in Q2, 2025. First power is anticipated in Q3, 2025 and full power in Q1, 2026.

· Almost 3000 new UK jobs have been announced so far that will be supported by the construction and operation of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

· These include up to 750 direct and around 1,500 indirect jobs associated with the set-up of a new world-class blade manufacturing facility on Teesside by LM Wind Power, a GE Renewable Energy business, with production due to start in 2023.

· 470 jobs are expected to be recruited by GE Renewable Energy across the north east of England in support of the delivery and operation of all three phases of the project. These will be made up of around 300 skilled roles for turbine installation and commissioning activities and 170 servicing roles at Port of Tyne under GE's five-year Service and Warranty Agreements for Dogger Bank phases A, B and C once operational.

· At least a further 30 roles will be hired by Equinor as operator of the wind farm, based at the Port of Tyne or offshore.

· 170 new full-time UK-based jobs will be created by North Star Renewables in crewing and shore-based roles for the operation of the three-vessel service fleet for Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

· Up to 100 peak construction jobs will be created by Jones Bros. Civil Engineering, one of the UK's leading civil engineering contractors, on the installation of onshore cable infrastructure for Dogger Bank A and B.

· Dogger Bank A and B has confirmed GE's Haliade-X 13MW as the turbine powering the first two phases of the project. As the first order for the Haliade-X 13MW, installation at Dogger Bank A will be the first time the turbine is installed in the world.

· Installation of GE's upscaled Haliade-X 14MW turbine at Dogger Bank C will be the first time the 14MW turbine is installed in the world.

· One rotation of the Haliade-X turbine blades can power one UK home for more than two days.

· The wind turbines will be installed on monopile foundations.

· Dogger Bank will be the first High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) connected wind farm in the UK due to its distance from shore, introducing new transmission systems to the UK and paving the way for other large offshore wind farms.

For more information about Dogger Bank Wind Farm visit www.doggerbank.com

 

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