A SCOTS energy firm has been newly launched, kickstarting with the acquisition of two business and a whopping 120 new jobs.
Aurora Energy Services (Aurora) announced their newly-acquired offshore services and fabrication company R&M Engineering.
This follows on from its first acquisition in December, of training specialist Inverness Access Training Services (IATS).
The Aberdeen-based company added that jobs at IATS and R&M Engineering have now been secured and expects its current headcount of 200 to increase exponentially.
Aurora’s also plans to create a £100 million turnover international energy services provider over the next five years by continuing to provide services to oil and gas.
The firm also aims to push forward with the energy transition by targeting the wind, solar, hydrogen, carbon capture & storage, pumped hydro and waste to energy sectors.
As part of the energy transition Aurora will develop three business streams.
This will begin with renewables services including inspection, repair and maintenance, engineering, and installation support.
Then, training and accreditation (providing the opportunity for the oil and gas workforce to add new skills and enabling a transition to renewables).
Finally, design engineering, fabrication and site installation – initially in oil and gas but transitioning to provide the same services to the renewables sector.
Owned by energy sector serial entrepreneurs Doug Duguid and Michael Buchan through their I7V Renewables investment fund, capital has also been invested by Aurora’s senior management, including Alan McLean – who has been with R&M for over 30 years.
They are joined by Alan Bailey, who has been appointed as the new Managing Director at R&M, and who previously worked alongside Duguid and Buchan at EnerMech for 12 years.
Doug Duguid, I7V Renewables Chief Executive Officer, said: “Aurora Energy Services is structuring its operational capability to deliver an integrated service to the renewables industry.
“It is clear from conversations with wind farm developers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that there is some frustration with having to manage the various interfaces between different contractors, and the increased costs and inefficiency that this causes.”
R&M Engineering has provided fabrication services to the oil and gas industry for more than 40 years.
The business has already started the transition to renewables, winning a number of offshore wind contracts.
Its 6.5 acre Huntly site and skilled workforce will be central to Aurora’s expansion plans.
IATS co-owners, Andy and Lorna Johnston, will remain with the new entity and have also invested in Aurora.
Andy will play a central role as Aurora strengthens its rope access, inspection, and technical training credentials with the opening of a new 11,000 sq ft site in the Longman area of Inverness.
The Renewable Energy Training Centre – a £750,000 investment – will offer safety training and technical courses for onsite renewables operations.
Reskilling programmes for workers looking to transition into renewables sector jobs, will also be made available.
The Inverness site is also Aurora’s Wind Energy service centre, delivering project engineering for onshore and offshore wind workscopes,
It will also be the Highland’s first Global Wind Organisation (GWO) accredited safety and technical training centre when it opens in June this year.
A particular focus of the Inverness centre will be to deliver specialised blade inspection and repair courses – and Engineering Construction Industry Training Board controlled bolting.
Aurora is also investing in developing a full design engineering function at its headquarters in Aberdeen, which will incorporate a digital capability for customers to access real time progress.
The design engineering team will support the renewables service centre and the Huntly fabrication facilities, while further expansion in Blyth and Great Yarmouth take place.
Doug Duguid added: “Aurora will be focused on providing localised support to our customers.
“By developing our own workforce, and working closely with our customers to optimise work planning and execution, we will ensure that our operations are streamlined, minimising both the cost of our services and our carbon footprint.
“We have listened closely to the needs of both our renewable and oil industry customers who want their contractors to focus on minimising emissions and extending the life extension of energy assets, component refurbishment, and in cases where the former is not practicable, recycling.
“We see tremendous value in transitioning Scotland’s energy base and workforce towards more renewable sources, and at the same time utilising the immense offshore knowledge and experience from Scotland’s oil and gas industry, and applying this to the new energy sources which will keep Scotland at the leading edge of energy production.”
