(Sharecast News) - Infrastructure and physical asset management company InfraStrata has been awarded a contract by Saipem for the fabrication and load-out of eight wind turbine generator jacket foundations for the EDF Renewables and ESB Energy-owned Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm project in Scotland's outer Firth of Forth, it announced on Friday.
The AIM-traded firm said the contract value was around £26m, was binding, and contained contractual conditions and obligations on both parties.
It said the contract schedule would start on 1 July.
The works for fabrication, consolidation and load-out of the eight wind turbine generator jacket foundations would primarily be conducted at Harland and Wolff's newly-acquired Methil facilities in Scotland.
If there was an opportunity to further optimise the works programme and make the contract more cost-effective, the company said itself and Saipem would work jointly to spread additional work streams within the contract across the firm's three other sites at Belfast, Arnish and Appledore.
"I believe that this contract paves the way for the execution and delivery of future fabrication contracts, a significant number of which are currently in advanced negotiations," said chief executive officer John Wood.
"The geographical proximity of our Methil facility to the North Sea makes it an ideal site for fabrication and load-out to wind farm projects such as this.
"More importantly, it validates our strategic vision of expanding the group's fabrication footprint into regions that are strategically located within close proximity to major wind farm projects."
Wood said that would enable the company to spread work streams across its facilities to drive down costs, deliver against tight schedules, and align ourselves to the government's goal of providing wind-generated power to all UK homes by 2030.
"I am confident that this is only the beginning of a stream of projects in our pipeline that we expect to come to fruition.
"We are hugely excited about the massive potential that this first contract has unlocked, and we look forward to working with Saipem to successfully deliver under it."
At 1104 BST, shares in InfraStrata were up 10.41% at 47.2p.
11 Mar 2016 07:57