Granada awarded contract for operation and maintenance at Gwynt y Môr – the world’s second largest operating offshore wind farm

Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm has awarded a three year contract to Granada Material Handling to provide specialist offshore personnel to look after, maintain and re-certify 160 crane units on its offshore turbines.

Each of the Granada ‘Python’ crane units was specifically designed for Gwynt y Môr, with one ‘Python’ crane unit fitted to each of the 160 transition pieces.

The scope of the contract is not limited to the cranes but also includes checks on climbing safety systems, complete tower inspections and onshore activities to assist with the safe running of the wind farm.

Granada employs 100 people across three sites in the UK and, for Gwynt y Môr, a local team will be based at the Port of Mostyn and will carry out daily maintenance trips offshore.

Gwynt y Môr’s Operations and Maintenance Manager, John Porter said: “Granada and their team have proved themselves an effective partner during the construction of Gwynt y Môr and we are delighted to secure their expertise and knowledge of the offshore site going forward into operations.”

Mark Sidwell, Director of Granada Material Handling Ltd, added: “We are extremely pleased to have been awarded this prestigious UK wind farm contract. The Granada team are pleased to continue providing support now that the wind farm has moved into its operational phase.”

At up to 576MW, Gwynt y Môr is the world’s second largest operating offshore wind farm and is a shared investment between partners RWE Innogy, Stadtwerke München GmbH and Siemens. Once fully operational, energy generation from Gwynt y Môr is expected to be equivalent to the average annual needs of around 400,000 homes – around a third of the total number of homes in Wales.