Contracts deal adds up to jobs joy for Skanska

Skanska Whessoe, based in Brinkburn Road, Darlington, has clinched two deals, which will bring more jobs.

The business, which employs 115, plans to take on an extra 20 engineers, process engineers and electrical engineers.

They will eventually work on the new contracts for National Grid Transco, in Kent.

The contracts, worth about £80m, will see Skanska Whessoe converting a storage terminal into a liquid natural gas (LNG) importation facility.

The terminal is used for gas importation purposes at times of low demand from the National Transmission System and turns it into LNG, which is stored in four huge tanks until ready for use.

In the first contract, Skanska Whessoe will refurbish and modify the four tanks, while the second part of the work will involve the design and build of a new deep-water jetty on the River Medway estuary, which will enable purpose built LNG ships to dock.

The project also involves building a 3.5km cryogenic pipeline to transport LNG at temperatures of minus 160 degrees Celsius from the ships to the tanks, as well as constructing the pipeline's foundations and land corridor. Spokesman for the company Andrew Geldard said: "This work, due to last over the course of the next two years, will lead to the creation of about 20 permanent jobs.

"They will initially be based in Darlington, before moving to Kent to work onsite. Hopefully, if we do a good job on these contracts, we will win more similar work for National Grid Transco."

Jon Dale, managing director of Skanska Whessoe, said: "These contract wins are great news. The increase in work over the next few years from National Grid Transco, together with the prospect of more to come, will lead to new openings for our company and we will look to the region's workforce to fill them."

The contract wins follow a concept study undertaken by the firm last year.

The new terminal is scheduled for commissioning in 2005 and will be capable of processing three million tonnes of LNG per year.