- New Queen Elizabeth Carrier logistics centre officially
opened in Portsmouth today.
- Facility to provide critical logistic and maintenance support
to the Royal Navy’s two aircraft carriers.
- Facility is part of a programme that supports more than 550
jobs.
A new Royal Navy logistics centre in Portsmouth - dedicated to
crucial maintenance for HMS Queen Elizabeth and wider naval ships
and equipment – has been officially opened today.
Providing critical support to the UK’s largest and most powerful
surface vessels in the Royal Navy, the Queen Elizabeth Carrier
(QEC) Forward Logistics Centre will streamline logistical support
for the vessels.
The new Hampshire facility will see everything from new
lightbulbs, to critical engine parts funnelled through the site,
helping to ensure that following maintenance the QEC carriers can
quickly return to operations to protect and defend the UK’s
interests at sea.
Secured with a £7 million contract with BAE Systems and Francis
Construction, the new centre is the final project delivered
within the 19-year QEC Infrastructure programme. Beginning in
2003, the programme has invested £350 million into the Portsmouth
naval base and £100 million in Scotland, creating and sustaining
at least 550 jobs across the 50-year life of the vessels.
Located alongside the base port’s carrier berths, the centre was
officially opened today by Defence Procurement Minister, .
Defence Procurement Minister, said:
The Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers are the flagships of our Royal
Navy, providing critical at-sea protection of the UK and our
allies.
Ensuring we can provide quick and efficient logistical support to
our Royal Navy vessels is crucial to maintaining our resilience
and operational advantage. I’m delighted to unveil a new facility
dedicated to serving and preserving our Queen Elizabeth Carrier
vessels throughout their 50-year lifespan.
The facility has been future proofed to support the UK’s Net Zero
2050 requirements. As a result, the roof hosts a photo-voltaic
array consisting of 678 panels generating 250kW, with the
adjacent car park array providing 1MW energy– comparable to the
levels used by several hundred homes. The logistics centre is
also the first Royal Navy infrastructure construction to be Net
Zero in operation. Net Zero is the balancing of carbon emitted
into the atmosphere and the carbon removed from it.
Hitting a nation-wide milestone, the facility is also the first
building in the UK to be built using Rigid Inclusion. This sees
structural columns embedded in the ground to reinforce organic or
weak soils leading to less disturbance, better ground settlement
and faster delivery with greater quality control.
In opening the centre, the Defence Procurement Minister outlined
progress on the Climate
Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach, which was
launched last year to set out the ambition, principles and
methods needed for UK defence to meet the challenge of climate
change.
Since its publication, UK defence has achieved several milestones
including:
- Developing a Sustainable Support Strategy to reduce the
vulnerability of UK defence while maintaining or improving its
capability, productivity and efficiency.
- Updating policy and standards for new military infrastructure
to a higher level of energy efficiency, mitigating future energy
cost and resulting in lower carbon emissions.
- Establishing a 1,000-person strong network to help support
sustainable ambitions across Defence.
