David Brennan
Managing Director
Eastgate Engineering
Who are Eastgate Engineering and where have you been active so far?
Based in Waterford, Ireland and Billingham, UK, Eastgate Engineering are Specialist Mechanical, Electrical & Instrumentation services contractors providing Engineering, Construction, Commissioning and Maintenance services covering a broad range of sectors such as Offshore Wind, Power & Renewables, Oil & Gas/Chemicals, Pharmaceutical & Healthcare, Mining, Industrial and Manufacturing.
Eastgate Engineering is currently working on the “Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farm” directly contracted to GE Vernova for the Mechanical & Electrical Pre-Assembly of WTG Towers as well as the Preservation of Nacelles at their Marshalling Harbour at Able Port, Seaton, UK. Dogger Bank OSWF will be the largest wind farm in the world when completed, so this is quite a significant good news story for an SME based in Waterford and the UK.
The work we are doing is the “Mechanical and Electrical Pre-assembly” of the Wind Turbine Towers at a Port in Hartlepool, UK. The contract duration is 3 years and we have approximately 90 people employed on this project working 24/7 365 days per year. Located more than 130km off the North East coast of England, Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be capable of powering up to 6 million homes annually and will produce 3.6GW of Power when Phases A,B&C are complete. Dogger Bank phase D when sanctioned will potentially add an additional 2GW of power making the overall project 5.6GW in total.
“Ireland has the wind and seas to become an offshore superpower and Ireland South East can be at the centre of it”
What do you see as being the opportunity for Ireland in this sector?
So, working on 6.8GW of Offshore Wind is quite significant when you consider Ireland’s current offshore wind total output is only 0.025GW. Ireland has a long way to go, but I have joined the “South Eastern Offshore Wind Taskforce” with Enterprise Ireland, Waterford CoCo, Wexford CoCo amongst others to give our advice where we can on trying to develop Ireland’s preparedness for the Offshore Wind Industry.
Ireland has a significant opportunity to develop a Gigantic Green Industry and create tens of thousands of long term jobs if we get things moving, but we need Government to act faster and with more ambition & imagination to enable it to happen.
My big passion about this Green Revolution is both the creation of Cleaner Energy and the huge long term employment opportunities that will come with it. We have 65,000 young people leaving our beautiful country each year now for various reasons and I want to play my part in creating the opportunity for our young citizens to remain at home build their lives here with long term careers in the Offshore Wind Industry the circular economy that will be created by it also.
Why should Ireland South East be at the centre of that opportunity?
Ireland South East is uniquely placed to be at the centre of Ireland’s offshore industry. It has the available infrastructure that can, with investment, be utilised by Tier 1 developers to manage and service their offshore wind projects in a similar way to what has happened in the North East of England. For example:
- Port of Waterford is very suitable as a Marshalling Harbour, Transition Piece Manufacturing Facility, O&M Base and Offshore Training Hub.
- Waterford Airport is there and can be utilised for Helicopter, drone flights, O&M, and Health and Safety
- University and Apprenticeship Training Centres
- Large demographic area and large number of employees with relevant industry skills
- Long tradition of Manufacturing and Fabrication capabilities
- An experienced Offshore Wind company currently working on 4.8GW of OSW Project
What do companies need to consider before getting involved in this sector?
In very simple terms, we have 0.25GW and need to get to 5GW by 2030 and 37GW by 2050 so the job creation opportunities are enormous and long term. We also have a Green Hydrogen Production Opportunity that will come from the OSW developments which will also create more jobs and provide energy security as well as a means of storing excess energy from OSW.
Companies need to first and foremost know their potential client and where they fit within the OSW sector. Get a better understanding of the many components and the enormous Fabrication Opportunity for TP’s, OTM’s OSSS’s, Monopiles as well as Fit-Out works.
Be prepared to invest in training for your Trades and go out and gain experience in the UK and Mainland Europe.
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