The Port of Tyne has appointed Turner & Townsend in partnership with Fairhurst to support the delivery of quay works for a new multi-million pound operations and maintenance (O&M) base for the world’s largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank.

The global professional services firm has been brought onboard to provide cost, commercial and project management in addition to safety, health and quality (SHEQ) along with supervisory services from Fairhurst for enabling works to prepare the site for occupation.

Turner & Townsend will work alongside civil engineer contractor Southbay to deliver the works, which are due to complete late 2021.

When complete, the O&M base will be the central operations hub for the Equinor-operated Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which is set to have a total power generation capacity of 3.6GW – enough for six million UK homes.

The project builds on Turner & Townsend’s substantial experience on port and marine terminal projects across the UK, from work on the Port of Liverpool on the west coast to Boston Barrier, Lincolnshire, on the east coast.  

The Port of Tyne has long been undergoing a shift towards becoming a low-carbon industrial hub.  Since it was selected as the location of the O&M base last year, the port has also launched a new green energy park for the north east, Tyne Clean Energy Park. It is hoped that Equinor will be only the first in a series of new renewable energy tenants choosing to make the Port of Tyne their home.

Charlotte Brown, chief commercial officer at the Port of Tyne said: “The Port of Tyne is one of the key economic lynchpins for the north-east and will play significant role in delivering on the UK’s net zero ambitions, both supporting clean energy generation and helping to create green jobs.”

Clare Wood, director at Turner & Townsend, said: “The quay side improvements are a crucial step to realising the Operation & Maintenance Base, which will become the hub of operations for the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Our expert team has decades of ports and harbour experience and can’t wait to bring this to bear on the River Tyne.”