Odfjell Drilling joins forces with Oceanwind in the floating offshore wind market

June 10, 2021
11:18 am

Odfjell Oceanwind

Odfjell Drilling is pleased to announce its investment in Oceanwind AS. Oceanwind’s long-term objective is to own and operate harsh environment floating offshore wind turbines. With almost 50 years of offshore competence in Odfjell Drilling and 20 years of offshore wind experience among Oceanwind’s founders, the parties believe that this is a winning combination for further commercialising energy from offshore wind. Odfjell Drilling has the intention to achieve a controlling position, subject to successful completion of the contemplated equity tranches.

Odfjell

“With the discovery of Ekofisk in 1969, Norwegian industry players asked themselves how to take advantage of the business opportunities ahead. In 1971, Rederiet Odfjell made the final investment needed to complete the first floating drilling rig design ever created in Norway. This was the beginning of what we now recognise as Odfjell Drilling. I believe we are in a similar situation today. Our objective is to create value for our shareholders and society by leveraging almost five decades of competence in operating floating assets in harsh environments to develop a solid concept within offshore wind together with Oceanwind’s founders. I hope this day is the beginning of a new chapter, and another major milestone in the company’s history,” says CEO Simen Lieungh of Odfjell Drilling AS.

“We are very pleased and honoured to have joined forces with Odfjell Drilling. With their long tradition and impeccable track record as a high quality operator of drilling units, it was easy for us to knock on their door. For many years, our goal has been to harvest green energy offshore. In 2001, as founders of SWAY, we initiated the game-changing technology for floating offshore wind turbines. Almost twenty years later we have decided to enter the business of owning and operating such assets and become an important contributor to the reduction of fossil fuel emissions,” says Oceanwind Founder Jon Erik Borgen and CTO/Founder Eystein Borgen. “Odfjell Drilling is known for operating with the highest safety standards and for having a very strong and competent in-house team covering all aspects of floating asset management, including technical, operational and commercial capabilities. This meets Oceanwind’s goals as a future owner and operator of floating assets,” says CEO/Founder Geirmund Aasbø of Oceanwind.

Micro-grids are power grids not connected to the public electricity grid and are often powered by fossil fuels like natural gas or diesel.

We operate as a “shipowner” and our MOWUs are provided on a rental basis to our clients. MOWUs can be bundled into different scale wind farms installed near the client. At the end of the rental period, we move the MOWUs to the next location, reusing all assets. Odfjell Oceanwind’s MOWU is the first floating wind turbine designed to truly support mobility, with efficient mobilization and demobilization as a result.

Our unique rental business model is flexible and with a short mobilisation time. This allows us to contribute to a faster transition to renewable energy, a valuable tool to reach the world’s emission reduction targets. Odfjell Oceanwind’s WindGrid™ hybrid solution enables a reduction of CO₂-emissions of up to 70% compared to conventional power generation from fossil fuels.

The world’s best winds are located in harsh environments offshore and we are well set up for harvesting these resources. We have analysed decades of wind data to determine how we can secure predictability for our consumers, as well as a commercially sustainable business model.

The energy transition is the challenge of the century, and Odfjell Oceanwind combines 50 years of experience from harsh environment and 20 years from offshore wind to create flexible wind power solutions for the future. By merging these core areas of expertise, Odfjell Oceanwind is positioned to realise opportunities by leveraging existing technology with innovation to lower the costs involved with offshore wind.