Baker Hughes, a GE company, has opened its transformed Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Montrose at an inauguration ceremony with Minister for Energy, Paul Wheelhouse.
The CoE will deliver engineering, manufacturing, test and assembly and services to advance deepwater technology for customers.
The expansion represents a £31 million investment by BHGE and supported by a £4.9 million grant from the Scottish government, through Scottish Enterprise.
The upgraded and expanded campus enables BHGE to offer product innovation from design to delivery from one location servicing customers globally, the company explained.
Moving the new-build operations to one campus, which sits on more than 35 acres, will bring greater efficiency for customers and eliminate extra transportation between sites, helping to reduce environment impact.
Neil Saunders, CEO, BHGE Oilfield Equipment, said: “BHGE is committed to bringing the most innovative subsea technology and solutions to market to help our customers improve productivity. Our industry is transforming and sites like this will enable us to continue to invent and produce these technologies at an accelerated pace. This facility benefits from great backing by the Scottish government; the support demonstrates the commitment we all have to this region and the people who work here.”
Last year, BHGE announced its Subsea Connect vision, a new way of doing business that delivers lower costs, increased productivity and a simpler approach to subsea development. The CoE is the home of the Aptara Design Centre, dedicated to the design and development of the Aptara Totex-lite subsea system, the cornerstone of Subsea Connect.
The Montrose campus will develop the next generation of the workforce through a series of investments and training that will directly support the STEM program as well as local schools.
Paul Lewis, managing director, Scottish Development International, said: “The energy industry is one of Scotland’s leading sectors and Scottish Enterprise is honored to support BHGE in the creation of this Center of Excellence and advanced manufacturing campus in Montrose. This is a major investment by BHGE and is further evidence of Scotland’s attractiveness as the top location for inward investment in the UK after London. The opening of these facilities marks an exciting milestone and reflects the hard work by the project team to get here. They should be proud of the leading-edge solutions for the subsea sector that will be created in Montrose and exported around the world.”