Scottish company Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab) said yesterday it had landed a £50million contract, which will lead to 150 jobs.
The award is for the design and manufacture of 30 offshore jacket sub-structures for the Ormonde offshore windfarm off Cumbria.
The contract is from Ormonde Energy, which is owned by Vattenfall, and is due for completion in the fourth quarter of 2010.
The manufacture of the sub-structures will be carried out by BiFab at its facility at Methil, in Fife.
BiFab managing director John Robertson said: “We are delighted that BiFab has been selected for this project.
“This will be the world’s first full-scale windfarm project with this jacket sub-structure design. During 2006, BiFab fabricated two similar deepwater jacket sub-structures for Talisman and Scottish and Southern Energy for the Beatrice demonstrator project in the UK.
“Since then, we have been actively marketing the product and this award will allow us to demonstrate our ability to mass manufacture jacket sub-structures.
“The award of this project complements and strengthens our ambition to set up the most advanced manufacturing facilities for the supply of sub-structures for the offshore-wind industry. The aim is to produce 100 jacket sub-structures per year at our Methil facility, with the same number being produced at a new facility in Germany.”
Mr Robertson said his company had 500 staff working on various projects for the oil and gas sector and other alternative-energy projects.
He added: “In the current economic climate, we are fortunate to have a healthy order book with a two-year look ahead. The Ormonde project will provide additional employment opportunities for 150 people and this is good news for the area and the manufacturing industry.
“Recognising the future demands for a highly skilled workforce, BiFab introduced an apprenticeship training scheme in 2007.
“We . . . have 37 apprentices participating in this scheme and plan to have an additional 25 apprentices joining the company later this year.”