North-east energy services firm aiming to power up status in wind sector with major new contract

Aberdeen-headquartered energy services firm PD&MS Group has secured a three-year contract with Vattenfall to support its European offshore wind portfolio – a move it says strengthens its status as a key supplier for future developments in this area such as ScotWind.

The private equity-owned, international engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) specialist says the operations and maintenance (O&M) contract – whose value has not been disclosed – will see it providing key support across the state-owned Swedish energy firm’s windfarms in the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

PD&MS added that the contract, which it has options to extend for a further two-year period, reinforces its “ever-growing position” as a key supplier in O&M and inspection in the offshore wind sector, and builds on the delivery of several onshore and offshore wind projects for its clients including SSE Renewables and Moray East Offshore Windfarm.

The Scottish firm, which also has offices in Glasgow and Baku, Azerbaijan, with around 550 staff in Scotland and 100 overseas, added that it delivers mid-value capital projects, O&M, general modifications, upgrade projects, late-life asset-management and decommissioning services across the energy sector. It was founded in 2002 and is owned by private equity firm Inflexion, which completed a secondary buy-out in 2014.

Thomas Barter, head of renewables business development at PD&MS, said: “We are thrilled that Vattenfall has recognised our highly transferable skills gained from years of successfully operating across oil and gas and other energy sectors and chosen us as one of their long-term service providers. This new contract solidifies PD&MS’ position as a key supplier for future wind developments, such as ScotWind and other future European projects.”

The firm added that its energy-transition credentials have grown significantly in the past few years, saying it was recently granted Ore Catapult’s Fit 4 Offshore Renewables status, a programme developed to help the UK supply chain in this area reconfigure and deliver services.

Additionally, PD&MS pointed out that in the last 12 months it has acquired Glasgow-headquartered, low-carbon engineering specialist Synergie Environ and Aberdeen-based engineering consultancy Optimus.

From left: Mark Davidson and Thomas Barter of PD&MS in front of Vattenfall’s European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre off the coast of Aberdeen. Picture: Ross Johnston/Newsline Media.

Competencies

Mark Davidson, project director and energy transition leader at PD&MS, added: “Winning this three-year minimum contract with Vattenfall following a competitive tender process is testament to our team’s connected competencies, which match the disciplines needed by offshore wind.

"We have an extensive track record for delivering innovative and cost-effective project solutions which have proven to reduce cost and maximise asset uptime to create significant ongoing value within the offshore renewable energy sector. Underpinned by our flexible proactive culture, we are well-placed to further service the UK and European decarbonisation agenda.”

Other key milestones by PD&MS include the news last year that it had secured a significant modifications contract expected to create up to 80 jobs in the Granite City.

It said the agreement with exploration and production company Dana Petroleum was for an initial three years with options to extend to five, and involved carrying out engineering modifications and undertaking offshore construction on the latter firm’s Triton and Western Isles assets in the North Sea.