Gearing up for offshore energy

Over the next five years, ABP will develop the Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) at the Port of Lowestoft in Suffolk to ensure the port can accommodate the next generation of offshore support vessels. The facility will provide a site that is suitable for Operations & Maintenance (O&M) activities in addition to quayside suitable for construction support activities.

Andy Reay, ABP Group head of commercial (Offshore Wind), said: “ABP is the number one host of O&M bases in the UK, providing infrastructure for operations and maintenance facilities to support offshore wind farms in Barrow, Grimsby and Lowestoft.

“Our LEEF project represents an exciting step change in our ability to service customers in the growing Southern North Sea energy sector. It will re-engineer existing quayside in the Outer Harbour and create the modern infrastructure needed to support a rapidly changing energy industry in a growing regional economy.”

GB£25m for first phase

LEEF will be centred around the port’s Outer Harbour. The first phase of the facility will require around GB£25m of investment. When complete, the project will provide 360m of berthing space for simultaneous use by three SOVs and deliver up to 8 acres of flexible storage and marshalling area.

In 2019, Scottish Power Renewables opened an O&M building in Hamilton Dock, to support the 714MW East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm. The port is also home to the O&M base for Scottish & Southern Energy’s (SSE) Greater Gabbard Offshore wind farm, which is located 23km off the coast of Suffolk.