IN MAY this year, Greenray Turbines (Lincoln) Ltd opened a new industrial turbine maintenance facility at Westhill, on the outskirts of Aberdeen.
The primary purpose is to provide a state-of-the-art service and overhaul capability for a range of GEC power turbines and other mature industrial turbines installed aboard a sizeable number of oil&gas production platforms on the UK Continental Shelf and associated onshore installations.
Greenray, whose turbine business turned over more than £13million last year, has had an Aberdeen presence for some years, via allocated workshop space at the Siemens base on the Kirkhill Industrial Estate, near Aberdeen Airport.
Westhill changes that. Moreover, Greenray Turbines managing director Iain Lister also expects that the 5,500sq ft office, workshop and warehouse unit will bring the company closer to its North Sea client base – field operators such as ExxonMobil, Marathon Oil and Taqa Bratani.
Furthermore, Westhill is already seen as an international asset, as demonstrated by the fact that the facility is currently being used to service turbines from India, for example.
A little history: Greenray is a company that specialises in the water and energy sectors. It became involved in gas turbines in the early-1990s.
“Our first agreement with Siemens was as a sales agent for a range of gas turbines covering offshore, power generation, transmission and distribution markets on a worldwide basis,” says Lister.
“However, since May 1, 2007, we have become responsible in front of the customer for a fleet of 300-400 machines worldwide.
“It means that, since that date, we’ve been dealing with customers as Greenray, so we’ve had to introduce ourselves to the marketplace.”
Of this huge fleet, about 140 are in the UK, both on and offshore, variously engaged in gas pumping, compression, offshore power generation, offshore water injection, and so forth.
Servicing turbines on platforms in the Southern Gas Basin out of Lincoln has always been straightforward because of the close proximity; but less so for units associated with production infrastructure in the north.
Having an area allocated to Greenray at the Siemens facility in Aberdeen made that easier than it might otherwise have been, but Westhill represents a considerable next step.
“We have done that primarily to develop Greenray’s image in Aberdeen, to develop its facilities, to be able to better support and expand the range of things that we do,” says Lister.
“The decision was made in November last and the whole project came to fruition in just six months.
“For me, one of the driving factors is not just having a workshop, but also a customer-facing facility in Aberdeen.
“Originally, our customer-facing facility was in Lincoln, and that’s 300 miles from Aberdeen.
“Today, we have a base where we can present ourselves in the right and proper fashion; actually being there and doing business, rather than being in Lincoln. In terms of the capabilities at Westhill, we mostly service/overhaul power turbines.
“This includes disassembly, inspection, cleaning, refurbishing and balancing power turbine components such as rotors and nozzles. We also do inlet and outlet ducting, transition ducts, combustion chambers and various other components.”
This is a high-grade facility where some £200,000 has been invested in the special tooling required to disassemble, overhaul/repair and reassemble turbine components.
As for the size of the Aberdeen team, this will vary according to workload.
“At the moment, we have five people, but they are supported/supplemented by our technicians/specialists from elsewhere in the company,” adds Lister.
The North Sea is an ageing energy province and, as a result, many of the platforms and their systems are getting on in years.
Lister describes the GEC fleet as being “mature” in that regard, and it is something that the company relishes.
“What Greenray particularly specialises in is the overhaul of mature engines, upgrading, renewing components, ensuring they remain fit for further operations. They’re designed to operate efficiently in a very harsh environment.
“We like to think of Greenray as a specialist in caring for engines that are not necessarily still on the manufacturer’s catalogue. This is where Aberdeen is so important for us. It’s a centre of excellence.
“Aberdeen is the first such investment that we’ve made in terms of physical workshop facilities.
“We believe that it’s the right investment for the fleet and we’re looking to develop that further.
“We need to make sure we’re providing the best service possible to our customers.”
Westhill, which, as indicated above, is already handling international work, begs the obvious question: is it phase one of something larger?
“We’ve started out with a relatively small team in Aberdeen but, as a business that is keen to grow into other areas and other activities, the answer is yes.”