Offshore wind giant RWE has appointed the contractor to deliver its new multi-million pound Grimsby Hub.
The company is to extend its existing Triton Knoll base at the town’s Royal Dock, adding a centralised control room from where it will oversee the majority of the UK portfolio, creating 70 new jobs. It comes with construction underway on the next wind farm to be served from the port, Sofia, and an agreement for lease signed with The Crown Estate on the Dogger Bank South dual developments.
RWE has turned to Hobson & Porter, the Hull-based firm behind neighbouring Orsted’s East Coast Hub, to deliver the state-of-the-art multi-million pound site.
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The move is described as helping to cement Grimsby’s role as a leading location for the UK’s offshore wind sector, having announced the decision to focus on the cluster in 2021.
It was chosen because of its proximity to existing and future projects and its deep-water quayside, which is suited to the use of service operations vessels.
Construction is due to start shortly and will take around a year to complete. Alongside a joint control room offering 24/7 monitoring of multiple sites, new shared office space, and separate warehouse facilities will be delivered, with a total of 140 people employed.
Guy Middleton, RWE’s general manager for the Grimsby Hub said: “We are thrilled to have Hobson &Porter on board to complete the extensive construction works required to extend the existing Triton Knoll facilities. It is great to have been able to award the contract to a local firm which brings a wealth of experience to the project. We can’t wait for construction to finish and provide even more locally based, skilled jobs for the region.”
Hobson & Porter was selected through a tender process. North East-based Tolent, a high profile recent collapse, had been behind the original 2019 build. It was delivering the RNLI station at Cleethorpes before being plunged into administration last month. Fellow North East firm Brims Construction is in the process of taking work on.
Hobson & Porter, a 120-strong £45.7 million turnover operation, is described by RWE as sharing a lot of the same principles as RWE, with being community focused, environmentally proactive, with a longstanding commitment to develop skills and training flagged.
Joe Booth, business development director for the 44-year-old Malmo Road business, said: “We are delighted to be working with RWE on this exciting project and continuing our strong affiliation with both the Humber-based offshore wind industry and the town of Grimsby. This project will take our business revenues from the offshore wind industry beyond £25 million in recent years having previously delivered the adjacent East Coast Hub for Orsted and the Aura Innovation Centre in Hessle for The University of Hull; plus a number of other smaller projects.
“For a local, family-owned business like ours, this is testament to the vast array of business opportunities the offshore wind sector is creating for local businesses.”
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