GAMESA and AREVA have announced the entry into negotiations to create a 50/50 joint-venture company in the field of offshore wind power. The offshore market represents one of the most promising areas for the development of renewable energies over the next decade, particularly in the coastal countries of northern Europe, where the installed base should reach over 25 GW by 2020, and in Asia
The Gamesa 5 MW turbine factors into the partnership.
By joining forces, the joint venture becomes one of the leading players in the global offshore wind market, contributing to the development of this growing sector through:
- expertise, innovation and investments in R&D to develop competitive and reliable technologies of the future
- industrialization capacity and expertise in the development of a supply chain, both internal and external, and
- application of efficient onshore practices into offshore activities.
The joint venture will benefit from significant synergies, such as:
- The experience gained by AREVA since 2004 across several wind projects, notably through the ongoing installation of 120, 5-MW turbines in the North Sea and
- GAMESA’s comprehensive technological capabilities in onshore and offshore, leveraged its 19 year track-record throughout the wind value chain. The company also has a strong capacity for industrialization, based on its proven knowledge and experience in supply-chain development.
Areva has 250, 5 MW turbines working offshore in Europe. The company is working on an 8 MW version.
GAMESA and AREVA will pool personnel and offshore wind related technologies and assets to the joint venture. For AREVA, this includes the German Bremerhaven (turbine assembly) and Stade (blade manufacturing) plants, as well as offshore wind technology and commercial contracts. For GAMESA, it means use of existing multi-megawatt technologies applicable to offshore, the 5 MW platform, and Arinaga turbine prototype, as well as offshore related engineering, operation and maintenance capabilities. Additionally, the joint venture will enter into a preferred supplier agreement with GAMESA for some key components.
The JV will develop a best-in-class product portfolio aimed at covering offshore market needs, such as with:
- 5 MW turbines: the JV will continue to market AREVA’s M5000 turbine, which benefits from a strong track-record. Moreover, an enhanced 5 MW generation turbine will be developed in the short-term benefiting from the full potential of GAMESA’s multi-megawatt cutting edge technologies.
- 8 MW units will see acceleration in the development of this next generation of turbines, benefiting from investment efforts undertaken to date by both parties and from the technological synergies.
The JV will fulfill existing industrial development commitments in the UK and France, that have up until now been led by AREVA, which notably include the creation of a turbine assembly plant and blades manufacturing facility at Le Havre and the implementation of a network of sub-contractors and partners.
“This agreement with AREVA lets GAMESA position itself as a market leader in the offshore wind industry. The JV will provide GAMESA with an additional profitable growth platform complementary with its 2013-2015 Business Plan and which shall create material synergies with our onshore wind activities”, says Ignacio Martin, Chairman of GAMESA. “Likewise, this joint venture will pave the way for the creation of a leading and cutting-edge company in the offshore segment with know-how across the end-to-end wind energy value chain.”
The definitive agreements concerning the creation of the JV will be signed within the next few months following final negotiations between the parties and discussions with personnel representative bodies at GAMESA and AREVA.
Gamesa
www.gamesa.com
Areva
www.areva.com
Filed Under: News, Offshore wind
Both AREVA and Gamesa bring something to the table here. AREVA has expertise in drivetrains, blade manufacturing as well as structures. Gamesa has expertise in electrical systems, generators, controls and some structures knowledge as well.
Most importantly, AREVA brings the 8MW MxE design, which evolved some of the design concepts from the M5000 and M5000+ series. This will be the cornerstone of the collaboration.
AREVA has little to no IP portfolio to speak of, so being able to leverage off of Gamesa technology is a good opportunity for them to avoid any infringement risks and cultivate new concepts.