Sea Energy and Nantong COSCO Ship Steel Structure to jointly target offshore wind industry
SeaEnergy’s (LON:SEA)
80%-owned subsidiary SeaEnergy Renewables (SERL) has signed a Strategic
Cooperation Agreement (SCA) with state-backed Chinese group Nantong
COSCO Ship Steel Structure Co Ltd (NCSC) to develop and market steel
structures for the offshore wind industry.
The company expects
the SCA to lead to a definitive agreement to develop and market turbine
jacket substructures, towers and access systems for offshore wind farms.
"We are delighted to be working with one of China's premier state-owned
enterprises and directing our efforts at the critical supply chain need
for offshore structures,” SERL chief executive Joel Staadecker
commented.
“The combination of our proven skills in delivering
offshore infrastructure and turbines in deeper water and NCSC's
expertise in design and manufacture of steel structures for marine
applications provides the ideal platform to serve the growing global
offshore wind industry as it moves into deeper waters."
SeaEnergy
highlighted that the deal represents the first agreement in offshore
wind between a Scottish company and a major state-owned Chinese
enterprise. The agreement was signed in Shanghai, in the presence of
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond and representatives of the
British and Chinese governments.
SERL said it will now work with NCSC over the coming months to develop a
detailed business plan and commercial framework which will form the
basis of their relationship.
"The signing of this strategic
cooperation agreement with SeaEnergy Renewables is an important
milestone in NCSC's expansion into the European market. Partnership
with SeaEnergy will combine NCSC's fabrication infrastructure with
SeaEnergy's outstanding expertise in the offshore environment.
Together, both companies will be excellently positioned to move forward
in this industry," NCSC’s General Manager Wang Zhihua said.
SeaEnergy
is currently marketing its 80% stake in SERL, after a re-evaluation of
its strategy and a decision to focus the business on the wind-farm
servicing business, rather than developing wind-farms itself. In June,
in its final results statement, SeaEnergy announced the plan to
concentrate on marine services for the offshore wind power industry,
after an assessment of the equity markets, investor sentiment and the
funding environment.
Last week, the company hired Ernst &
Young’s Renewable Energy arm as an adviser to coordinate the sale of
its 80%-interest in the SERL subsidiary.
"In an equity market
which does not yet appreciate the huge opportunities afforded by
offshore wind, we have chosen to create our own equity for future
investments in the sector by crystallising the value we have created in
our SERL subsidiary," SeaEnergy MD Steven Bertram commented. According
to SeaEnergy, the SERL business provides a unique growth platform in the
offshore wind sector, with an experienced management team and net
interests of 781MW, in three separate offshore wind farm sites in the UK
and the potential for a further 425MW in the Far East.
SERL has
partnerships with EDPR, Scottish and Southern Energy and Taiwan
Generations Corp.
SeaEnergy has conducted a review of
opportunities for its marine service business, and a detailed
feasibility assessment into the best prospects is being finalised.
According to SeaEnergy, this new business direction builds on the
company’s experience in the oil & gas industry and "specific lessons
learned" while constructing the Beatrice Demonstrator turbines.
In
terms of its new marine services business, SeaEnergy is already making
progress, with a recent deal to design and built specialist vessels
specifically for the offshore wind-power industry. The company reported
the signing of a letter of intent (LOI) with Norwegian shipbuilder
Ulstein Group to co-develop new service vessels for the offshore
wind-power industry. The company highlighted that as the offshore wind
industry moves further away from the coastline, new strategies are
required to make the offshore wind-farms more cost-effective.
The
companies have been working together over the last months to develop a
design that will “excel in operational characteristics”. According to
SeaEnergy, by signing the LOI both companies want to tighten their
relationship and underline that this will be a first step in jointly
realizing the needs of the industry.
SeaEnergy seeks to design
vessels which can perform both the commissioning and maintenance works
of wind turbines. Based on the proven Ulstein X-bow technology, two
vessel designs are currently being developed in which operational and
vessel systems will be fully integrated with each other.
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