Lowestoft development project completed and handed over

Associated British Ports (ABP) has announced the successful completion of the Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) project.

The transformative £35 million infrastructure project, supported by the Town’s Fund, has officially been handed over by contractors McLaughlin & Harvey, marking a new era for Lowestoft.

Julian Walker, Chief Commercial Officer and Regional Director, Wales and Short Sea Ports, said: “LEEF is a pivotal development for Lowestoft and will help us to meet the growing demands of the offshore energy industry. Its completion marks a major milestone in the port’s evolution as a hub for supporting this vital industry and in ABP’s goal of enabling the energy transition.”

Adrian Pollock, Operations Director, Civil Engineering from McLaughlin & Harvey added: “We are proud to have delivered this comprehensive port infrastructure upgrade project. Our civil engineering expertise in marine works and collaboration with ABP allowed us to design and deliver a new facility that will help ABP achieve their ambition of offering three berths and heavy lift capabilities for the growing offshore wind and energy sectors at Lowestoft.”

Key features of LEEF include:

• 345m of quayside with three deep-water berths (7.5m draft), with capacity to accommodate Service Operation Vessels (SOVs) for uninterrupted operations at all tides.
• Up to 8 acres of operational and storage space, adaptable for covered and open storage, marshalling, and equipment laydown for O&M and future construction phases.
• Six Crew Transfer Vessels (CTV) berths, each equipped with utilities including water and power, with the infrastructure to add comms and bunkering.
• Future-proofed infrastructure to support alternative fuels and shore power, aligning with ABP’s commitment to sustainable operations.

Major part of the project included dredging of approximately 170,000m3 to facilitate minimum depth at berth pockets of 7.5m.

The whole dredging operations – completed by the hopper dredger Sospan Dau – were carried out in accordance with ABP’s works’ marine license.