Key contract of Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project awarded

Laing O'Rourke is set to play a leading role in the delivery of the £1 billion Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon following the conclusion of one of the project’s main civil engineering and construction package tenders. The firm has been named as preferred bidder for the ~£200 million contract to deliver the lagoon’s 410 metre turbine house and sluice structure block.

This element of the build will require up to 500 workers at peak construction, a substantial number of whom will be local to South Wales. Concrete, reinforcing and other materials will also be sourced locally. Laing O’Rourke has named Arup as its lead design and engineering partner for the contract.

Andrew McNaughton, who earlier this month joined Tidal Lagoon Power as Director of Engineering & Construction, will lead the delivery of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon. He said:

“Announcing that Laing O’Rourke is joining the team is a major step forward for the project. As preferred bidder, their contribution over the next few months alongside General Electric and Andritz Hydro will be invaluable in preparing for delivery on site in 2016.”

Jonathan Adams, Project Lead at Laing O’Rourke said:

“From London 2012 to St Pancras International Station to Heathrow Terminal 5, we’ve been involved in the delivery of some of the UK’s most celebrated infrastructure projects. Today, the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon is the talk of the international construction industry and we are thrilled to be playing a part in its delivery.”

Following advanced works and value engineering, a fixed price contract will be signed later this year for the main build. Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Plc has also run tenders for the project’s marine works package and for a package to provide public realm ancillary works. The results of these tenders will be announced shortly. Further tenders for the construction of a Turbine Assembly Plant in Wales, and for the lagoon’s public realm and buildings work will proceed through the summer.

We recently announced that a team composed by General Electric (GE) and Andritz Hydro has been selected as the preferred bidder for supplying electromechanical equipment for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, the world-leading tidal power station development.

The project will generate 500 GWh of electricity every year for 120 years, enough to provide nearly all of the domestic electricity for the Swansea Bay region, comprising the city and county of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. It will help the UK meet its carbon reduction targets by saving more than 236,000 tonnes of CO2 each year; and establishes a scalable blueprint for a total of six UK lagoons that could between them provide 8% of the UK’s electricity, also for 120 years.