UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE - Wind Energy Network

SPONSORS OF SERVICING OFFSHORE WINDFARMS
Port of Ramsgate
a thriving hub for the offshore
wind industry
Five years ago, the Port of Ramsgate
in Kent was best known for its cross-
Channel ferry service to Belgium.
Today it has a new reputation as a
thriving hub for the offshore wind
industry.
Servicing offshore projects
Both the 300MW Thanet Offshore Wind
(TOW) and the nearly-complete 630MW
phase 1 of London Array – which
will soon claim the title of the world’s
largest offshore wind farm – have made
Ramsgate their home.
Image courtesy of London Array
Set on 32 acres of land, Ramsgate is
one of the largest municipal ports in
England and Wales, and the owners,
Thanet District Council, are keen to secure
investment that has knock-on advantages
for the local economy.
Facilities
The port can accommodate vessels of up
to 180 metres in length with 6.5 metres
draft and has the capacity to handle
multi-decked vessels. With easy access
to the open sea, it takes an average of 10
minutes from berth to clearing a buoyed
Supply chain and training
support
The wind farm industry is already making
its presence felt as the supply chain
spreads into the local economy.
Local colleges and training providers have
developed new courses to help students
and residents gain the skills they need to
work in the offshore wind sector, and East
Kent College has planning permission
for a new Centre for Environmental
Technologies to support this. The area’s
maritime expertise is in demand – whether
it’s providing crews for the wide range
of boats needed to build and maintain a
wind farm or the chandlery supplies and
support services they require. Recruitment
agencies, the local airport, IT businesses,
specialist manufacturers, accommodation
and leisure providers, welding companies,
equipment suppliers and many more have
all plugged into the offshore wind economy.
State-of-the-art
operations and
maintenance base
And the port itself is home not
just to the headline names
of TOW’s owners Vattenfall
and London Array, which has
invested in a multi-million pound,
state-of-the-art operations and
maintenance base there. Key
suppliers such as Siemens,
Vestas and Visser & Smit have
joined them there, too.
As well as serving as the construction
management centre for the two wind
farms, the Port of Ramsgate will serve
as their longterm operations and
maintenance base.
Investment
It’s a welcome payback for Ramsgate,
which has seen substantial public and
private sector investment to make sure it
serves the needs of the offshore wind farm
industry.
channel and access is possible at all
states of the tide and in most weather
conditions.
For those companies that do not need
to be on the seafront, there are also
complementary facilities a few miles
inland at Manston Business Park to
accommodate potential wind farm-related
businesses.
“Ramsgate is in an excellent
position both geographically
– at the south eastern tip
of the UK – and in terms
of the skills and services it
can supply, to support the
offshore wind farm industry,”
said Peter Symons, Business
Development Director of
Locate in Kent, the county’s
inward investment agency.
“In a little under five years,
the port will have seen the
construction of two of the largest offshore
wind farms in the world and is now set to
serve for at least the next 20 years as their
operations and maintenance base.
“Meantime, Ramsgate is placed to
assist both with the extension of existing
Round 2 wind farms projects as well as
the emerging Round 3 projects. It’s a
very exciting prospect.”
Port of Ramsgate
www.portoframsgate.co.uk
100
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk