The Finnish welding automation company Pemamek has received a substantial order to supply lines for the manufacture of heavy tubular offshore structures for the Portuguese renewable-energy company ASMI, which is building a new 72,000m² production facility at Aveiro Port, of which 22,000m² will be for fabrication work (www.pemamek.com).

Adelino Costa Matos, CEO of ASMI, said: “We strongly believe that the new investment will reinforce the position of ASMI as a ‘reference player’, actively contributing to the development of a sustainable industry.

"We are very glad to continue our co-operation, with Pemamek installing ‘state of the art’ technology to manufacture the best-value products for our clients.”

Pemamek says its PEMA lines feature the latest automation technology, including: integrated milling stations for root preparations (designed to allow high deposition rates and minimised defects); assembly stations; and welding lines for both circular and longitudinal welding.

Each welding line features advanced control systems and laser seam tracking, through which production and quality control data can be collected.

The entire installation will enable ASMI to efficiently and flexibly fabricate offshore wind turbine towers and foundations, as well as transition-pieces, monopiles and pin-piles.

ASMI is already familiar with Pemamek and its PEMA automation solutions, as the companies have been collaborating for several years.

The new contract is an addition to the automated tubular-structure production line for offshore foundations that was installed in 2017. The latest system will start operations in March 2019.