Roermond, The Netherlands,
02
October
2017
|
07:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Sif Assembly and Coating Facility at Maasvlakte 2 Terminal in Rotterdam Officially Opened and at Full Capacity

Summary

Sif Holding N.V. (Euronext symbol SIFG / ISIN code NL0011660485) - Regulatory news

The Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Henk Kamp, on Friday officially opened the new assembly and coating facility operated by Sif Holding N.V. at Rotterdam's Maasvlakte 2 terminal.The new facility will increase Sif's annual capacity from 225 kilotons to 300 kilotons. Components manufactured at the Roermond site can be assembled at the Rotterdam facility into complete monopiles with a diameter of up to 11 meters, a length of 120 meters, and a weight of around 2,000 tons. Once the complete monopiles have been coated in the four separate blasting and painting rooms, they are stored on the facility's 103-acre grounds until delivery via the specially constructed quay. The grounds can accommodate the simultaneous loading of two installation ships of monopiles and transition pieces.

The facility is currently equipped with two fully operational production lines, which have the capacity to produce four complete monopiles per week.

In his officiating speech at the opening ceremony, Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Henk Kamp expressed his admiration for the groundbreaking efforts by Sif to develop offshore wind energy as an energy source: "As a family-owned business with solid roots in Limburg province, Sif has undergone remarkable growth and development and helped to ensure that the need for subsidies for building offshore wind turbines will be eliminated within the next few years. This means we are on track to become a low-carbon society."

In his speech, Port of Rotterdam CEO Allard Castelein stated his hope that the Minister would be able to translate the objectives of the sustainability sector into a long-term vision for further advancing the development of wind as a source of energy: "Wind energy is a perfect example of a win-win situation. In addition to resulting in cleaner energy consumption, creating jobs, and generating revenue in a whole new segment of industry, it also attracts many related businesses looking to settle in this area."

Sif Holding N.V. CEO Jan Bruggenthijs expressed his pride at the successful completion of the project and explained the significance of the new facility in his speech: "This is a perfect representation of the goals that Sif is committed to. We continue to focus on reducing the costs of the construction of offshore wind farms. We do this not only by applying the cost leadership concept to the use of ultra-modern production resources but also by constantly reducing costs in the total value chain. Together with our clients and offshore wind-farm developers, Sif will continue searching for further cost optimization and supporting the possibility to create wind farms without subsidies."

The project took a total of approximately 30 months to complete, from the signing of the partnership agreement between Sif and Port of Rotterdam in March 2015 and the launch of production in September 2016 up to and including the commissioning of the second production line and the facility's official opening this year. The operation coincided with the upgrade of the production facilities at Sif's Roermond site. This marks the completion of an investment program involving an amount of roughly € 90 million, created by Sif to enable offshore wind-farm managers to start using a new generation of wind turbines with larger capacities.

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About Sif Holding N.V.

Sif is a total solutions provider for design engineering and excellent manufacturing of offshore foundations for wind farms, including logistics and marshalling services. Sif traditionally serves the North-Western European markets and is exploring its global presence. Sif combines two highly automated and flexible production facilities in Roermond and Rotterdam (Tweede Maasvlakte) with technology leadership in rolling and welding of heavy steel plates, which is based on 75 years of experience and innovative in-house developed techniques and processes. Sif primarily produces monopiles, transition pieces and piles that are used to anchor jacket foundations in the seabed for offshore wind turbines.