IN Brief:
- METEC UK has secured four marine infrastructure contracts worth more than £3.6m for offshore wind and port corrosion protection.
- Two orders cover galvanic protection anodes for offshore wind substation jackets in France and the Netherlands, alongside port orders in Cork and London Gateway.
- The South Shields plant expects to manufacture and supply more than 650 tonnes of sacrificial anodes across the contracts.
METEC UK has secured four contracts covering galvanic cathodic protection anodes for offshore wind and port infrastructure, with a combined value exceeding £3.6m. Two of the orders will supply anodes for offshore wind substation jackets in France and the Netherlands, while the others relate to Port of Cork and DP World London Gateway. The South Shields manufacturer expects to supply more than 650 tonnes of anodes across the four projects.
The offshore packages concern the steel jacket structures supporting electrical substations at sea. They form part of the civil and marine infrastructure needed to collect electricity from turbines and deliver it towards the export network. The ports have different structures and operating environments, but their contracts use the same underlying corrosion-protection principle. Individual project specifications will determine which anode designs, quantities, and delivery arrangements are required.
An offshore substation jacket is exposed to seawater, oxygen, and changing environmental conditions throughout its service life. The submerged steel and adjacent areas subject to regular wetting need protection against electrochemical corrosion. Jackets transmit loads from the topside structure through their supporting members and foundations, so material deterioration can affect the structure supporting transformers, switchgear, and other electrical equipment.
Galvanic cathodic protection places a more electrochemically active metal or alloy in electrical contact with the steel to be protected. In seawater, the attached sacrificial anode preferentially corrodes and supplies protective current, reducing the rate at which the connected steel undergoes corrosion. The electrochemical potential difference between the materials drives protective current through the surrounding conductive seawater, without a powered rectifier.
The arrangement has to be designed for the geometry of the structure and its expected exposure. Anode type, mass, distribution, connection quality, and the condition of protective coatings all influence the current available and how long the system can provide protection. Components must remain electrically connected to the jacket through installation and service, while their material allowance accounts for gradual consumption during operation. Those parameters will be specified separately for the French and Dutch projects.
Offshore electrical platforms house equipment that receives power from turbine array circuits, switches and transforms it where required, and transfers it to the offshore export system. The marine support structure is separate from that high-voltage plant, yet it must preserve the physical integrity of the facility through the project’s design life. Corrosion protection is therefore integrated with jacket fabrication and installation, alongside structural materials, coating systems, and inspection requirements.
The two port orders involve anodes for Port of Cork and DP World London Gateway. Marine structures at ports may be immersed or exposed to repeated wetting, so galvanic protection can be used to reduce corrosion on electrically connected steel. The precise application locations have not been identified for these orders. Their different site conditions will be reflected in the component designs and installation instructions supplied to the respective customers.
All four contracts will be supplied from METEC’s South Shields operation, which employs 40 people in the UK. The more than 650-tonne manufacturing quantity covers the combined offshore and port programme; it is not a quantity allocated exclusively to the two wind projects. METEC’s engineers will work with the project teams on the anode specifications and the requirements for delivery and installation.
Simon Cross, operations manager at METEC UK, described the four contracts as a substantial addition to the facility’s workload. The contract mix extends the company’s participation in offshore wind infrastructure alongside its established marine and port activity. The value and production quantity apply to the projects together, while individual client orders will determine how the manufacturing work is sequenced.
Anode manufacture requires the specified alloy composition, component mass, casting dimensions, and attachment details to be maintained across batches. The finished components must match the client’s corrosion-protection design and fit the locations reserved on the structures. Inspection and traceability help connect each manufactured anode to its design and installation requirements, particularly when components are destined for fabrication or assembly stages away from the manufacturing site.
METEC has operated from South Shields since 2016, supplying sacrificial anodes and cathodic protection systems for marine and offshore structures. Its four new contracts add offshore wind jacket work in France and the Netherlands alongside port infrastructure in Ireland and the UK. The varied destinations require the manufacturer to align component production and dispatch with the individual clients’ infrastructure delivery programmes.
Manufacture and delivery will now follow the technical requirements agreed for each jacket and port installation. The anodes will form part of the corrosion-protection systems incorporated into the structures, with their positions, electrical continuity, and service-life allowance established by the respective project designs.
