Manufacturing blueprint unlocks UK offshore wind opportunity

Background

Gabriel Engineering Group Ltd is a Gloucestershire-based engineering and fabrication company with expertise in delivering complex technical solutions across industrial sectors. Expanding into the offshore wind supply chain was a natural fit for the business, building on its existing capabilities to explore opportunities in anchoring and mooring systems – essential infrastructure that secures floating offshore wind turbines to the seabed in deeper water locations.

To support this ambition, the company partnered with the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) through The Crown Estate’s £50 million Supply Chain Accelerator programme. The project aimed to identify a commercially viable manufacturing opportunity and assess how the company could establish an efficient and scalable route to producing offshore wind anchoring and mooring systems within the UK.

Challenge

As a new entrant to the offshore wind market, Gabriel Engineering needed to understand whether large-scale anchoring systems could be manufactured efficiently, competitively and at scale using its existing fabrication expertise.

The company also wanted to explore whether floating wind mooring connection and tensioning technologies developed by world-leading partner company, Bardex® Corporation, could be fabricated using a more efficient manufacturing approach, reducing production costs, while supporting future growth.

Understanding production costs, equipment requirements, environmental impacts and investment needs was critical before progressing towards commercial opportunities in the sector. The company also needed to establish where a future facility could be built, and what infrastructure and site investment that would require.

What did NMIS do?

NMIS worked closely with Gabriel Engineering to assess viable manufacturing routes for drag embedment anchors and associated mooring systems. The team analysed design requirements, materials, labour, equipment and production simulation, mapping a manufacturing route comprising of value-add production steps before developing digital manufacturing models to evaluate potential production scenarios.

Lifecycle assessments and cost models were used to identify key cost drivers and opportunities to improve efficiency and support future scale-up. The analysis provided evidence of the technical, commercial and operational feasibility of establishing a UK manufacturing capability for offshore wind anchoring and mooring systems.  NMIS also supported Gabriel Engineering to identify where this future facility could be built.

With the Celtic Sea emerging as one of Europe’s most promising regions for floating offshore wind, the project explored how a UK-based facility could capture this opportunity for local communities rather relying on imported systems. A team from NMIS and Gabriel Engineering visited potential port locations including Milford Haven, Port Talbot, Cardiff and Falmouth, meeting local councils to assess access to skilled labour, availabile land and the infrastructure required to move heavy materials and finished products.

Around ten potential locations were assessed against the manufacturing, production and cost requirements identified through the earlier analysis, narrowing the field to two preferred options for further engagement with local stakeholders and landowners.