Ipswich engineers on top of a wave after completing wind farm pontoon project

Ipswich-based Red7Marine engineered a new pontoon for Galloper wind farm off the Suffolk coast Picture: RED7MARINE (Image: Red7Marine)

Red7Marine is celebrating after completing the project for the Galloper Wind Farm, which - once completed - will comprise 56 turbines producing 353 megawatts of green electricity capable of powering more than 380,000 homes.

The Port of Ipswich-based company - which was sub-contracted to carry out the work by civil engineering firm Farrans Construction - started work on-site in late July and finished in early September.

It was involved in engineering and installation work, providing its specialist marine expertise for elements such as pile driving, an intermediate landing platform and installing two 40m aluminium adjustable drawbridges known as linkspans.

MORE - East Anglia's coast 'will be home to Labour's new generation of state-owned wind farms'A 120m pontoon, or floating platform, was made in the northeast and transported to Harwich on a coaster vessel. Red7 assembled and installed it next to a newly-built operations and maintenance building.The works were carried out using Red7Marine's jack up barge, Haven Seaway, and flat top barge, Haven Sea Voyager. The gate system for installing the piles was made at Red7Marine's workshop in the Port of Ipswich, and together with the piles and walkway were loaded up and taken down the River Orwell to Harwich by the Haven Sea Voyager.They were then installed by the Haven Seaway jack-up barge.As part of the work, Red7Marine had to work to a tight schedule to complete the marine piling by the end of September to comply with consents and licences. Red7Marine boss Nick Offord said: "Over the course of the summer we have completed a number of prestigious projects - including most recently the works at Galloper Wind Farm. "Being involved in a local job is extremely rewarding and it's great to see how our work can have a positive impact on projects close to home. "As a result of the expertise of our skilled team, we were able to deliver all the works within a short timeframe, and we hope to embark on our next local project very soon."Red7Marine's work is part of the wider Galloper Offshore Wind Farm project - a 353MW wind farm located 30km off the coast of Suffolk.

Ipswich-based Red7Marine has built a new pontoon for Galloper wind farm off the Suffolk coast Picture: RED7MARINE (Image: Red7Marine)