Smulders and Haizea Bilbao S.L. have signed a Selected Supplier Agreement under which the two companies – subject to them concluding on the final contract – will cooperate for the supply and fabrication of more than 70 transition pieces for the Baltic Power offshore Wind farm in the Polish Baltic Sea.
This is the second project in which the two companies cooperate and the first one for transition pieces.
Haizea Bilbao will be manufacturing the primary steel in its Bilbao facilities. Smulders will manufacture the secondary steel and assemble, outfit, coat, and test fully equipped transition pieces. The secondary steel will be manufactured at its facilities in Poland. The assembly of the transition pieces will take place at the yard in Hoboken or Newcastle, which was recently modified to enable the assembly of transition pieces.
“Smulders is a company with whom we share to a great extent our vision and core values, paving the way towards a joint journey towards decarbonization of our society and increasing the European energy independence” declared Borja de la Rica, General Manager of Haizea Bilbao.
Jaap Jansen, Tender Director of Smulders says: “We are proud to have been selected by Baltic Power to manufacture the transition pieces for this project, which is the first project for the Polish offshore wind market. A significant share of the steel structures for the Baltic Power project will come from Smulders own production facilities in Poland.
About Baltic Power
Baltic Power is a joint project of the PKN ORLEN and Northland Power. Thanks to the effective transfer of knowledge and hard work involving almost 90 experts, Baltic Power has become one of the fastest paced projects on the Baltic Sea. The construction of a wind farm with a capacity of up to 1.2 GW is scheduled for 2024–2026. During that time, about 70 wind turbines with a minimum capacity of 14 MW will be erected in the sea, ultimately supplying clean energy to more than 1,5 million Polish households.
About Smulders
Smulders, subsidiary of Eiffage Métal, is an international steel construction company with a proven track record in the engineering, production, delivery and assembly of heavy, technically complex steel constructions. With over 50 years of experience in its field, Smulders was the logical choice for offshore wind structures back in the pioneering days of wind energy 20 years ago. Today, Smulders is an established market leader and can boast delivery of 35 substations, more than 2,000 transition pieces and 150 jackets. We are the world leader in manufacturing of transition pieces and have so far delivered to a third of the world’s offshore wind turbines foundations. Smulders has more than 1,000 employees working across 5 locations in Belgium, the United Kingdom and Poland.
The power of cooperation is a motto that applies unconditionally in all the facilities of Smulders – and to all of its employees. The combination of individual specialisms and internally shared experience forms a source of expertise for any application of steel. It is because of the unique cooperation partnership between our five international branch offices that we can master all the aspects in the field of steel constructions.
About Haizea Bilbao
Established in 2018 in the Port of Bilbao, Haizea Bilbao is a company focused on the manufacture and assembly of large steel structures for offshore wind turbines, such as wind towers, monopile foundations or primary steel for transition pieces.
Haizea Bilbao is a subsidiary of Haizea Wind Group, a group that was established in 2017, based on two existing companies: Grupo WEC and Tecnoaranda. The group has two additional sites, a wind tower factory in Santa Fe (Argentina) and an assembly plant in Brest (France). Haizea Wind Group has three business units: wind towers, offshore foundations and large castings for wind turbines.
The Group currently employs around 1,200 people and the turnover in 2022 is expected to exceed 270 million euros.
