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Granada Material Handling recently delivered its 750th wind farm davit crane as part of its contract to supply 84 cranes to the Beatrice offshore wind farm project.

Granada has secured a contract to deliver 103 Main Access Platform (MAP) cranes for ScottishPower Renewables East Anglia ONE Offshore windfarm, a £2.5billion offshore windfarm which will generate enough renewable energy to power 500,000 homes per year. 102 cranes will be mounted on to the wind turbine foundations, and one will be used for training purposes at the operations and maintenance base in Lowestoft. Each crane has a lift capacity of 1.5 tonnes.

The project will be managed by Granada, and the cranes will be designed and fabricated by Sparrows in Aberdeen. In total the contract will support up to 75 jobs and the fabrication of the cranes will see 99% of their parts procured within the UK. Production is expected to start soon with final delivery scheduled mid-2018. ScottishPower Renewables is on target to deliver more than 50% of UK content across the life of the project.

Granada is the latest UK firm to sign a contract with DONG Energy for Hornsea Project One. With a capacity of over one gigawatt, Hornsea Project One will be capable of supplying power to well over one million homes from its base 120km off the Yorkshire coast.

Each of the 7MW turbines will require a davit crane and Granada will assemble and test all 174 davits at their Rochdale facility. With a lifting capacity of one tonne, each crane weighs approximately 3000kgs. Fixed to the foundation platform next to the turbine tower, the Granada davits will help lift parts and tools from the crew transfer vessels to the turbines.

Granada are delighted to welcome Alan Grand as Health and Safety manager at the company’s head office in Rochdale.

Alan brings over 12 years’ expertise to GMH, with previous roles across regional, national and global companies. He holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Health and is currently completing his M.Sc. in Occupational Hygiene and obtaining CMIOSH status with IOSH. With experience of working with safety management systems and a range of Standards including OHSAS 18001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, Alan is a qualified trainer and will undertake a range of in house training for GMH.

Alan’s varied and extensive Health and Safety experience includes regional roles implementing and maintaining Health and Safety on waste water treatment works; a national role with a plastic FMCG manufacturer, and national responsibility for a global pharmaceutical and medical equipment company within Australia.

Granada have been awarded a third major contract to design, manufacture, deliver and commission davit cranes for the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL) project, this contract awarded by Burntisland Fabrications Limited.

Burntisland have been providing solutions for offshore energy industries since 1990 and this new contract will see Granada supplying 26 Python davit cranes, one to each of the Burntisland-supplied platforms. Burntisland say their £100m contract is protecting 200 jobs and, for their part in the project, Granada are already looking to place orders and to sub-contract specialist areas of work across their own UK-based supply chain of companies and contractors.

Granada Material Handling are undertaking another major contract for the £2.6bn Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) project, this contract awarded by Smulders Projects.

Granada are commissioned to design, supply, third party certify, deliver and commission 28 davit crane units. Each of the Granada Python cranes has been designed specifically for Beatrice and one crane will be fitted to each of the 28 platforms being supplied by Smulders Projects.

The UK is the global leader in offshore wind farm development and Granada Material Handling are leading the way in the sector, working with both wind farm developers and UK supply chain manufacturers, to the benefit of the UK economy.

The level of UK content in wind farm projects has been an issue throughout the development of the sector and, responding to this question, the Offshore Wind Industry Council approved the introduction of a UK Content Reporting Framework. Since January 2015, owners of all UK offshore wind farms achieving final investment decision report their UK content to RenewableUK – measuring progress towards the commitment to achieve 50% UK content in offshore wind farms.

Bladt Industries A/S has awarded a major contract to Manchester company Granada Material Handling Ltd to design, manufacture, deliver and commission 30 davit crane units for the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) project, one of the largest private investments ever made in Scottish infrastructure.

Each of the Granada Python crane units has been specifically designed for Beatrice and the challenging marine environment in which it will operate. One Python crane unit will be fitted to each of the 30 platforms being supplied by Bladt Industries.

Mark Sidwell, director of Granada Material Handling Ltd, commented:
“We are extremely pleased to have been awarded another prestigious UK wind farm project. Securing this contract has been a real team effort by the Granada Renewable product and service division. The BOWL contract is not only great news for Granada but also for our UK based supply chain. Granada has ambitious plans for this market sector and, having supplied over 600 offshore davits, is one of Europe’s leading offshore wind farm davit crane suppliers.

We are currently working with designers, wind farm developers and turbine manufacturers to further enhance the product range to ensure the very latest developments in lifting technology are made available to the rapidly expanding and ever developing offshore renewable market.”

In the month after Granada Material Handling received their Gold Achievement Award from RoSPA, we bring a round-up of Granada’s health and safety initiatives, led by Alison Hodgson – Health, Safety and Compliance Manager at GMH.

Alison Hodgson receiving Granada’s Gold Achievement Award at RoSPA Ceremony in July

Based at Granada’s Airbus site in Broughton, Alison has been instrumental in creating a range of health and safety initiatives, both at Airbus and at Granada’s Rochdale headquarters. At Broughton, where around 6,000 people are employed on-site, GMH were one of the companies taking a lead to set up a Contractors Health & Safety committee. This committee encourages and facilitates contractors’ input into health-related issues across the site which is home to Airbus wing design, engineering and production in the UK, an initiative that has won praise from both Airbus and from the Health and Safety Executive.

Granada Material Handling announces the appointment of Jon Attfield, who joins the company at their Airbus site this month as European Aerospace Sales Manager.

Jon joins Granada with a wealth of expertise in aviation and aerospace engineering, contract negotiation and sales, having gained 14 years’ experience with his previous company, Latchways plc, where he was responsible for sales of fall protection equipment to aerospace customers throughout the UK and Europe. While there, he initiated and managed contracts for a range of high-profile clients, including major military and defence partnerships with organisations such as NATO, the RAF and Airbus Military, supporting aircraft maintenance and manufacturing customers from contracting through to supply and ongoing maintenance support. His newly-created role at Granada will focus on expanding GMH’s aerospace offering and developing new areas of the business, across the UK and Europe.