Great Yarmouth-based energy services company 3sun Group has been awarded a marine operations and management contract by Statoil worth £1m.

The six-month deal, which started last month, will be based within the Outer Harbour of East Port in Yarmouth – marking the first time the company has supported a major project for the marine sector.

The firm will assemble anodes onto special frames designed to transport assembles offshore for deployment to the seabed for 88 wind turbine foundations on the Sheringham Shoal wind farm, located 21KM off the North Norfolk coast, UK.

Stuart Brand, 3sun Group Operations Director, said: 'This is a significant contract win for the Group and a real coup.

'The scope of work and the contract value signifies the extent of our technical abilities and further underpins our reputation for delivering a high quality service and execution.

The group will be working alongside oilfield support services company ASCO that will provide logistic support in the unloading of the supply vessels from Norway.

Graham Hacon, 3sun Group chief executive, said; 'The project marks the first milestone in what is planned to be a larger relationship between the two companies, with plans in place to develop a regional operations and maintenance hub from ASCO's Gas House Quay facility.'

3sun Group employs over 300 staff offshore and onshore and is currently working on oil and gas and renewables projects in the UK and Europe.

It recently announced it had secured a contract extension with Siemens to provide offshore wind turbine installation services in the UK until 2016. The Group had previously carried out work for Siemens, totalling around £15m.

The company has a base in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and has seen recent expansion internationally following the creation of bases in Bergen, Norway and in Esbjerg, Denmark. It is also currently looking at other UK and overseas locations.