North-East Business
Engineering firm wins £2.3m energy sector contract
12:33pm Friday 3rd September 2010
A Darlington engineering company has won a £2.3m contract in the offshore renewable energy sector.
Mech-Tool Engineering will supply pre-assembled buildings, fire walls, blast walls and weather louvres for a new substation platform within Centrica’s Offshore Wind Farm Project located five miles off the coast of Skegness, Lincolnshire.
The substation will house control and electrical equipment, supplied by turbine manufacturer Siemens, that will bundle power from the turbines before it is sent via high-voltage cable to the mainland.
The order is the fourth renewables project in two years – worth a total of £3.6m – that Tyneside- based McNulty Offshore Construction has awarded Mech-Tool.
The latest contract is for 500sq metres of blast and firerated stainless steel cladding, including walls and weather louvres for other decks on the platform.
The work includes everything from heating and ventilation systems to handbasins and bunks.
by Mike Bridgen mike.bridgen@dst.co.uk Matthew Camp, business manager for Mech-Tool’s fire and blast protection products, said: “The buildings will be constructed from the highest-quality stainless steel to ensure a long life-span and minimum maintenance requirement, despite the worst conditions the North Sea can throw at them.”
David Walker, business manager for the company’s modular division, said: “The efforts of McNulty Offshore Construction working with local companies such as Mech-Tool is a significant contribution towards the development of this emerging sector in our region.”
Mech-Tool has designed and manufactured modular buildings that provide fire, blast, seismic and acoustic protection to personnel and equipment across a wide range of industry sectors, most recently the nuclear industry.
It has increased production capacity at its Darlington factory by 80pc in the past two years to cope with increased orders.