Areva wins £15m deal
A Stafford electrical engineering giant has won a £15 million contract to design and build two high-voltage substations at a major UK wind farm.
A Stafford electrical engineering giant has won a £15 million contract to design and build two high-voltage substations at a major UK wind farm.
Areva Transmission and Distribution (T&D), based in St Leonard's Avenue, Stafford, will create both onshore and offshore substations for the Robin Rigg East and Robin Rigg West wind farms in the North of England.
The contract was placed by electricity supplier E.ON UK.
The project is due to start full commercial operation early in 2009, and is set to contribute significantly to the UK Government's target of delivering 15 per cent of all electricity supplied in England and Wales from renewable energy sources by 2015.
Stephen Burgin, Areva President for the UK, revealed that the work will require the construction of an onshore sub station at Seaton to connect the two wind farms to the distribution network.
In addition, two high-voltage offshore sub stations will be installed on monopiles in the Solway Firth, the estuary that separates Scotland from England, approximately 12km from the English coast.
He said Areva T&D's success in delivering the UK's first offshore high-voltage substation was a key factor in E.ON's decision when awarding the contract.
Mr Burgin said the Barrow Offshore Windfarm project demonstrated Areva T&D's ability to deliver an efficient and reliable solution capable of operating in a harsh offshore environment.
He said: "Areva T&D has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in complex electrical connections gained through decades of designing, manufacturing and commissioning substations. The Robin Rigg project takes that substantial expertise into a new and growing market for high-voltage offshore electrical connections."
In October the long term future of Areva, one of Stafford's largest employers, was secured after it won a £500 million contract with the National Grid to assist in its £2.8 billion upgrade of the electrical transmission grid across England and Wales.
Areva T&D took over the running of the St Leonard's Avenue works, where 1.200 are now employed, in 2004 from former owners Alstom. The companyalso bought the former Alstom transformers site on Lichfield Road.
