Client: Aquamarine Power Ltd.

Challenge:
The Oyster project, developed by Aquamarine Power Ltd required a range of machining operations prior to completion at Bifab’s facility in Burntisland, Fife. Due to the size of the components, a significant amount of the machining had to be completed insitu and along with some tight geometrical tolerances, it was a challenging scope of work. Our laser alignment service was used alongside a range of insitu machine tools. Some work was also carried out at our machine shop facility in Renfrew.

How Challenge Was Addressed:
The major works we carried out included the following:
> Checking alignment of two base frames and two flap base casting end faces and bores.
> Machining of bearing house base frames.
> Line boring, facing, drilling and tapping of the cylinder heel castings.
> Off site machining of 1.2m diameter stainless steel stub shaft sleeves to a concentricity tolerance many thought was not achievable

Value Added:
In May 2013 they announced a development of the largest commercial wave farm in the world due to be installed over the coming years. Our customer’s Project Manager stated that “Without doubt the contribution of Reekie Machining to this complex structure was a major contributor to its success. They tackled and succeeded on machining tasks considered unachievable by other machining companies both in their workshops and at site “