Harland & Wolff Group (HARL) announced that it has been awarded a ‘key’ contract for the fabrication of four suction piles for a subsea template of an energy project in the Black Sea.
The shipyard and energy infrastructure group said that whilst the contract is small, the win forms part of its expected pipeline for this year and validates its strategy of getting its Arnish facility into a state of operational preparedness for the wider renewables sector in the UK.
The contract will last for around four and a half months and with Arnish now moving to full operations, it will be fabricating four suction piles - two at seven and a half metres diameter and twenty metres length, and two at six metres diameter and twelve metres length.
Today’s contract marks Arnish's first external contract in addition to the work that is already being undertaken for its Methil facility. The execution of this contract now concludes the reactivation process of all yards, ‘which are winning work in their own right,’ said Harland.
Harland has made a bid for several further contracts that management believes will flow through Arnish in the coming weeks and months while major infrastructure developments are also starting to move ahead to either construction or commercialisation stages, it explained.
The Company believes the Arnish facility, ‘with its specialist large diameter rolling equipment, is well placed to be a beneficiary as its capability is expected to be in high demand.’
Commenting on today’s contract win, John Wood, Chief Executive Officer of Harland & Wolff Group stated: "I am delighted to report that Arnish is now fully operational. We have taken the time to bring the site up to operational readiness. The works conducted by the local team have garnered positive reviews by clients who have inspected and audited the yard.”
He added, “Arnish offers something quite different compared to our other yards and, looking ahead, the specialist large rolling equipment is set to be booked for extended periods by clients given the vast array of projects that require large diameter rolling of steel."
Last week, shares in Harland & Wolff jumped after it unveiled to investors that its subsidiary, Islandmagee Energy, had received confirmation that it will receive the Environmental Consent Decision, Marine Licence for its Islandmagee Gas Storage project within the next 28 days.
Islandmagee is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harland & Wolff Group, formerly known as InfraStrataThe project is a salt cavern gas storage facility in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
The Islandmagee facility is expected to provide over 25% of the UK’s current natural gas storage capacity and will support the growing demand for gas-fired power development and renewable energy generation throughout the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic.
The issuance of this licence, which is expected to occur in the next 38 days, will facilitate the abstraction and discharge of seawater and brine respectively during the cavern formation.
Given the ongoing gas supply crisis within Europe and the critically low levels of gas storage currently available in the UK compared with the rest of Europe, the Company believes that it is vital that its Islandmagee gas storage project is constructed and commercialised to help ensure security of supply in the UK, as well as support the transition to a Net-Zero economy.
Harland outlined that the gas project is expected to create at least 400 direct and 1,600 indirect jobs during the construction phase and around 60 direct and 180 indirect jobs during its expected 40-year operational life, thereby supporting investment into Northern Ireland.
‘A crucial element of moving towards a green hydrogen-based economy is the ability to have large scale storage during periods of surplus production, which can then be injected back into the grid during periods of high demand, very much like natural gas,’ the Company highlighted.
Subject to regulatory approvals, the Company detailed that it believes that its Islandmagee Gas Storage project could be well utilised to transition from the storage of natural gas to a blend of natural gas and hydrogen, and, finally, to hydrogen storage in all its caverns.
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