TECADE CONSOLIDATES ITS POSITION AS A NATIONAL BENCHMARK IN THE OFFSHORE SECTOR

The Sevillian company, with a workshop in Los Molares and in the Port of Seville, has completed an order for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind offshore wind farm in
the USA, a milestone for the metal-mechanical industry that opens the door to new international markets for the company.

The Government Delegate in Andalusia, the Andalusian Minister for Industry, Energy and Mines, the provincial delegate for the Environment and the President of the Port Authority visit the Armaments Wharf to learn about the project and TECADE’s plans.

Seville, 11 june 2024. After a year and a half of intense work, the company TECADE celebrated this morning the completion of a project that has been a great milestone for the company, but also for the entire metal-mechanical industry of Seville, the Port and the city, due to the image of innovation and progress that it projects internationally.

The event was attended by the Government delegate in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández, as well as the Regional Minister for Industry, Jorge Paradela; the provincial delegate for the Environment, Inmaculada Gallardo; and the president of the Port Authority, who were received by the company’s directors and the technical directors who explained the project and its scope.

The order consisted of the manufacture of two complete electrical substations for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind offshore wind farm in the USA, built and operated by the company Dominion Energy. It will be completed in 2026 and is already considered one of the largest in the world, as it will generate 2.6 gigawatts of renewable energy through its 176 turbines to supply up to 660,000 homes. To transport the generated energy to the ground, the park is equipped with 3 transformer substations, of which TECADE has manufactured two of them in their entirety and has also manufactured heavy components for the third one.

Each substation weighs a total of 2,200 tonnes and measures 60 metres long, 30 metres wide and 25 metres high. The megastructures have been built at TECADE’s facilities in Los Molares and TECADE Yard in the Port of Seville, and have been assembled at the Armaments Dock itself, where the large-scale process, which is a source of pride for the company and for Andalusian industry, has been demonstrated over the last year.

This work has generated more than 300 jobs, in add tion to the 300 jobs that the workforce usually has, and has involved an investment of one million working hours. Some twenty companies and subcontractors were involved in the work. “We have established ourselves in the offshore wind market and that is not easy from Seville, but we are achieving standards of quality and safety that have allowed us to have a guaranteed workload for more than two years,” said the CEO of TECADE, who has shown his desire to also contribute to continue generating employment for the whole of Andalusia and Spain.

The Andalusian Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines, Jorge Paradela, stressed that clean energy represents a great opportunity to industrialise Andalusia and applauded the work and initiative of the company TECADE, “which has been able to put its capabilities at the service of what the transformation of the world economy
demands today”. The first of the substations set sail at the end of the year from Seville, down the river and sailing to Denmark, where the client, Bladt Industries, a company that has
recently been taken over by CS Wind, a global leader in energy solutions, is located.

The president of the Port Authority of Seville, Rafael Carmona, stressed that this TECADE project is a clear example of the Port of Seville’s commitment to project cargo, industrial employment and exports. “This action is a milestone for the port of Seville, as it consolidates our potential in industrial production and consolidates us as a national strategic centre for project cargo”, said Carmona, who also highlighted the value of a family company such as TECADE, which has been able to grow and contribute to the export of Andalusian industrial projects.

The delegate of the Andalusian Government, Pedro Fernández, closed the ceremony by also alluding to the capacity of this family company “to export material to the international market, contributing to the industrialisation of our region” while pointing out “the leading role of companies like this one in the territorial cohesion of Andalusia thanks to the public works contracts awarded by the Spanish Government, such as the construction of “the Almería-Murcia High Speed Railway, the strategic axis of the Mediterranean Corridor, providing essential metal infrastructure to safeguard the complex orography in the area”.

Fernández also had words of thanks for the founder of the company, Antonio Camino Salas, who has already passed the baton to a second generation but who is undoubtedly the driving force behind a company that has managed to grow and diversify its business from Utrera.

From a workshop in Utrera to an international benchmark TECADE is a family company with 38 years of experience. It was born in a workshop in Utrera and today is dedicated to the construction of steel bridges and offshore structures at an international level. This project has meant a leap forward for the company, as it has allowed it to enter a sector where, until now, only large companies were active.

The company began some years ago to manufacture elements for this industry, which represents a great opportunity for growth and development for Andalusia and, specifically, for the province. But this is the first time that complete substations have been built entirely in Seville, and this puts us on a par with large multinational companies such as
Navantia or Dragados, to cite just a few examples we have in Andalusia. The project has enabled the company to improve safety and quality and also to train its staff, who are now certified to carry out this work. It has also opened the door to new markets for the company. TECADE reaffirms its commitment to the offshore industry and the renewable energy
sector. It is also committed to an increasingly sustainable and cleaner industry that will enable it to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

In addition to the experience and advanced technological means with which TECADE works, it has an important human capital, with a workforce of close to 400 employees, and three headquarters: a 27,000 m2 factory in Los Molares (Seville), as well as two centres in the Port of Seville, the 63,000 m2 TECADE Yard facilities and another large space in the Muelle de Armamento that facilitates the stowage and maritime transport of its projects. Port operations During the past weekend, a complex port operation took place once again, in which
the Sevillian company Sevitrade also took part, allowing the mega-structure to be placed on a barge, which is currently being welded for transport by sea. And next Monday, the Port Authority of Seville, together with the Maritime Captaincy, the Seville Port and Guadalquivir Estuary Pilots Corporation, Tugboats, Moorers, TECADE, Bladt Industries and Sevitrade will coordinate the operation for the departure of the electrical substation. The large structure will cross the lock aboard a platform driven by the tug Centaurus. It will sail through the Guadalquivir estuary in the direction of Denmark, where the installation of the equipment will be completed.

The final destination of the structure will be the offshore wind farm located 24 nautical miles off the US Atlantic coast.