UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE - Wind Energy Network

SPONSORS OF SERVICING OFFSHORE WINDFARMS
Keeping the turbines turning….
The UK’s current installed offshore
wind capacity is greater than the
rest of the world’s combined, with
a further 45GW set to be added as
Round 3 projects come onstream. Of
these, the Irish Sea developments,
in particular, represent excellent
opportunities for maritime sector
companies based on Merseyside.
Mersey Maritime
Assisting them to enter or expand their
business into what, for many, is a new but
closely related market is Mersey Maritime,
the sector representative body for the
region’s maritime industry.
Partnership
This private/public sector partnership works
on behalf of the 1700 companies that
make up the ports and maritime sector on
Merseyside and is currently administering
a sector development programme for
small to medium sized businesses that
is supported by the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF).
Member company case studies
The case studies highlighted here
represent three different examples of
the world class expertise that exists on
Merseyside and how Mersey Maritime’s
ERDF supported programme is assisting
companies like these to
realise growth plans in the
wind energy market.
FPI NorthWest
Limited
An independent fluid power
engineering company,
specialising in hydraulics
and pneumatics.
Set up in 2002, the
company has already
seen rapid growth in
the wind energy market,
with O&M contracts to
supply services ranging from technical
support and advice on equipment and
maintenance, to diagnosing problems with
wind turbine hydraulics such as cylinders
and accumulators; and preventing
contamination.
The company’s time-served engineers
are highly skilled and able to respond
quickly to supply, design, build or service
enquiries, but as one of the few quality
accredited companies to offer a complete
package, FPI NorthWest also provides
bespoke training.
FPI Director Colin Walker, who is also a
committee member of the BFPDA (British
Fluid Power Distributors Association) said:
“Mersey Maritime’s Maritime Sector
Development Programme, which is
supported by ERDF, is helping us
to focus on business opportunities
around wind energy. We’re excited by
the potential of developments across
the North West and are laying firm
foundations now to prepare for future
projects.”
FPI NorthWest
www.fpi-northwest.co.uk
Atlantic
Engineering Ltd
Widely recognised for its specialist
engineering services, offering
innovative engineering solutions in
both specialist welding and precision
machining services.
The company has centre lathes sized
up to 17.5m between centres, a fouraxis
vertical machine centre and a lifting
capacity of 25 tonnes and holds approvals
from the major classification societies for
its repair and refurbishment processes.
The Merseyside based company was
recently approached by First Subsea, the
UK’s leading supplier of subsea mooring
systems, after two main beams of a 2600
tonne Subsea Mooring Connector (SMC)
test rig developed cracks during the initial
Minimal Breaking Load testing.
The failure of the beams was preventing
contractual Proof Load Testing to
be carried out. Atlantic Engineering
responded quickly, working 24 hours a
day to enable First Subsea to complete
their project and avoid delays.
Joint Managing Director Les Molyneux
said: “Atlantic Engineering has the
capacity and expertise to handle both
planned and urgent work. We work with
many companies of all sizes including
blue chip companies with extremely high
value components.
“We can see real potential to expand our
services into the wind energy sector and
the support we are receiving through
the Maritime Sector Development
Programme is making a real difference
to how we promote ourselves in this new
and exciting market.”
Atlantic Engineering
www.atlanticeng.com
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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