This week, PSW Group signed an agreement for operation of the former EMAS spoolbase located in Gulen Industrial Harbor, Western Norway. The agreement covers all activities related to the production and spooling of pipelines for offshore use. The spoolbase will be named “PSW Spoolbase”.

PSW Spoolbase is a state-of-the-art facility capable of handling a wide range of subsea and offshore piping projects in Northern Europe. The base is ideally located on the Norwegian west coast, close to some of the largest subsea fields in the North Sea. The spoolbase was constructed in 2014 to optimize logistics and pipe handling.

The capacity of the base is impressive, with a 3700m2 fabrication facility including an integrated indoor tie-in area, and it still holds the world record of 125 welds in one day. CEO of PSW Group, Oddbjørn Haukøy, believes the operating agreement will place the company on the map as a supplier in the SURF-market, and expects great market interest; “We’re seeing a shift from major developments to satellite and tie-back projects on the Norwegian and British Continental Shelf. There is a market analysis which shows expectations of strong growth in the future, with an estimated value of five billion dollars on the Norwegian and British continental shelves. With our new facilities we’ll be a highly competitive supplier. We have started the hiring process and expect a contract within this year”.

With this agreement PSW Group will operate an area of over 120,000m2 in Gulen. The area will include a rig quay, sail-in dock and spoolbase, and is set up with infrastructure and logistics  to handle a wide range of activities. Haukøy is very pleased with the agreeement and sees opportunities also outside Norway: “With the spoolbase we are now doubling our area of operation and are aiming for the international market. We are already in dialogue with global companies who are investigating the possibility of using PSW Spoolbase versus new establishments in other regions”.

Another focus area is to further develop the facilities to handle spooling and logistics for offshore power cables that are necessary for offshore wind projects, and PSW Group is currently working on several prospects together with companies outside of Norway.

PSW Group will continue to develop the area in Gulen together with local suppliers Wergeland Gruppen, which is the company’s partner for the sail-in and dry-dock projects currently under construction, as well as the supplier of base activities in the area.