The UK’s largest port operator and a leading global shipping agency have announced a strategic agreement to make Lowestoft’s new port a key hub for the East’s rapidly growing offshore energy sector.

Associated British Ports (ABP) and Clarksons Port Services (CPS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand their partnership at ABP’s Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF), which is set to be fully operational next month.

The £35m redevelopment project will support both operations and maintenance activities in the North Sea, as well as the construction of hundreds of new offshore wind turbines.

Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) will be fully operational in October Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) will be fully operational in October (Image: McLaughlin & Harvey)

Nine offshore wind farm contracts were awarded by the government at its UK auction this week, including Ørsted’s Hornsea 3 – the world’s single largest wind farm located 120km off the Norfolk coast – and Scottish Power Renewables’ East Anglia Two and East Anglia Three, off the Suffolk coast.

The MoU also celebrates a longstanding partnership between ABP and CPS, which reached 25 years of collaboration at ABP’s Port of Ipswich last year.

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Paul Ager, ABP’s divisional port manager, said: “The LEEF project is a testament to ABP’s commitment to investing in the infrastructure required to support the offshore energy sector.”

David Rumsey, Clarksons Port Services managing director, and Paul Ager, ABP divisional port manager, in front of the Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) David Rumsey, managing director at Clarksons Port Services, and Paul Ager, ABP divisional port manager, in front of the Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) (Image: Stephen Waller)

The £35m investment into LEEF includes £2.4m from the previous government’s Towns Fund.

David Rumsey, CPS’ managing director, added: “This is a significant step forward in aligning our support for the development of LEEF to strengthen Lowestoft’s infrastructure for renewable energy.

“It will enhance CPS’ capacity to serve its clients in the growing offshore wind sector, bringing economic benefits and opportunities to Lowestoft as the port evolves into a key hub for the energy sector in the Southern North Sea.”

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Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) (Image: McLaughlin & Harvey Ltd)

The new port features 345m of quayside equipped with three 7.5m draft deep-water berths with direct supplies of fuel, water and power.

It also has an additional six-crew transfer vessel (CTV) berths and up to six acres of operational and storage land.