The contracts are flowing thick and fast at Harland & Wolff (HARL). The infrastructure and marine engineer followed last week’s milestone £55m Ministry of Defence contract – its first in the strategically important sector – with a £9.6m deal to build twelve barges for Riverside Energy Park, its second with owner Cory in as many months.
The barges will be used to transport waste along the River Thames for use in Cory’s Riverside 2 development, which once complete will be one of the UK’s largest and most efficient Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities with the capacity to process 655,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste and generate power for 140,000 homes each year. Riverside 2 will sit alongside Cory’s existing EfW facility, with construction scheduled to begin later this year and switch-on expected in 2026.
The deal is the second announced with Cory this year, with an £8.6m order for 11 barges signed in June. Harland is expected to begin fabrication of the 23 barges at its Belfast facility imminently, with completion by the end of 2023. The new contract takes the company’s contracted revenue for 2023 to around £40m, while it said trading this year remained in line with expectations. Analysts are currently forecasting a much-narrowed pre-tax loss of £12.7m on sales of £70m for 2022.
Harland & Wolff, group CEO John Wood, commented: "We are pleased that Cory has once again chosen Harland & Wolff to fabricate these new barges. Fabrication facilities require a constant stream of work in order to create economies of scale and derive operational efficiencies. We have set up a semi-automated production line for the first Cory contract and with the award of the second contract, we will be able to drive through further efficiencies in the fabrication process."