UK: Heerema to Install York Platform Next Month

Centrica Energy’s York platform, built by Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) at its Hartlepool fabrication yard, reaches its completion and will be the first to be installed in the North Sea this year. The normally unmanned York platform, which will be located in the Southern North Sea, 40km east of Humberside, will produce enough gas to meet the daily needs of half a million (500,000) UK homes.

The 2,750 tonnes York Platform has taken just over one year to complete from design through to build and, when complete, will stand at over 90 metres tall – almost the height of Big Ben. The platform was fabricated by Heerema Fabrication Group at the company’s extensive indoor fabrication halls in Hartlepool and will be installed in a water depth of over 40 metres by Heerema Marine Contractors next month.

This is the third successful project delivered by the partnership between Centrica Energy and Heerema, with the ground breaking F3-FA self-installing platform celebrating its first year of successful production in January. The contract has provided employment for around 350 people with over 90% of materials sourced from here in the UK.

Greg McKenna, Centrica Energy’s incoming Southern North Sea Regional Director, said: “York represents another great achievement for Centrica Energy, following a busy year of production, exploration and acquisition activities, and will play an important part in securing the UK’s energy needs. I am delighted that we have been able to support local UK businesses by building another platform at Heerema’s Hartlepool yard, but most importantly delivered the project safely.”

Wim Matthijssen, COO of Heerema Fabrication Group said: “The successful delivery of this Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) project for our client Centrica is a result of great team work and commitment to high performance and safety of Centrica Energy, Heerema Fabrication Group and other partners. It demonstrates the dedication and experience of everyone involved to get projects such as this completed on schedule and, most importantly, safely.”

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Source: Heerema Fabrication Group, April 17, 2012