Toutes nos félicitations: DSMS seals major Corsica contract with EDF

At the beginning of September Damen Schelde Marine Services signed a multi-year contract with French electricity company EDF to supply parts to an electric power station on the island of Corsica. In addition to being the longest multi-year contract that DSMS has ever secured, it is also the largest in terms of volume. In other words: DSMS had a good reason to celebrate. “Winning this contract with EDF is definitely a victory,” smiles Arnold Suykerbuyk, DSMS Managing Director. “We had the champagne ready, so it was good to be able to share this success with the team.”

Electricity requirements on Corsica increase significantly in the summer months when tourism and the use of air-conditioning units are at their peak. To meet part of this demand, EDF operates the Vazzio power station in the city of Ajaccio. Electricity at the power station is produced by seven diesel-powered Sulzer RND90M engines; DSMS will supply the parts needed for maintaining these generators. “This type of Sulzer two-stroke engine is commonly used in both the shipping industry and land-based electricity generation,” continues Arnold. “And because we have worked with this same type of Sulzer in the past – Royal Schelde built this type of engine in the 70s and early 80s – we know these engines inside-out. This includes the original technical drawings and the production network to manufacture any parts EDF will need.”

Remy Quist, DSMS Sales and Marketing Manager, describes the scope of the contract: “We have a four-year contract with EDF, with a possible extension of an extra three years. This is because these engines are going to be replaced between 2027 and 2030. The most important aspect in us winning the contract was that we could supply such a large scope of parts: from the smallest nuts and bolts up to the largest cylinder liners weighing around 4,000 kilos.”

Originally built in the 1980s, the seven Sulzer engines are certainly close to their ‘end-of-life’. “Some of them have four million operational hours,” Remy adds. “What parts they need will be determined by their ongoing maintenance programme, but we expect that the moving parts such as pistons, piston rings, cylinder linings and fuel injectors – especially the parts that are in contact with combustion – will have the most wear.”

DSMS’ contract with EDF involved a long auditing process. “We were approached more than a year ago by PricewaterhouseCoopers. EDF had brought them in for pre-tender selection,” Arnold explains. “They looked at what kind of company we are: our certifications, terms and conditions, and also our Corporate Social Responsibility policies. After passing this selection process, we were allowed to submit our tender in December 2022.”

The fact that all documentation during both the pre-tender and pre-contract phases was in French posed a particular challenge. “We solved this by working closely with the legal department at the Damen head office. This was the first time that we had done this. We have knowledge about the parts and engines, but when it comes to the legal situation – especially in a different language – it has been very good to have received such support.”

The ‘French’ aspect of the contract will impact the DSMS team in one particular way. Arnold: “EDF carries out its daily operations in French. So, they have requested that we have a French speaker here on our team in Vlissingen. This means that, although DSMS has a relatively small team, three of our colleagues will be going on a French course. This just shows our dedication to the contract and to our clients’ requirements in general. Good teamwork brings great results!”