In May 2010 French energy giant Areva took full control of German wind turbine manufacturer Multibrid, forming a new subsidiary called Areva Wind. A few months later in October a long-term partnership agreement was sealed with Beluga Hochtief Offshore, a joint-venture between Hochtief Construction and Beluga Shipping, securing the use of a purpose-built jack-up vessel for offshore wind park installation. Other notable examples of vertical integration in 2010 included energy conglomerate Siemens buying a 49% stake in A2SEA, a supplier of installation vessels for offshore wind farms, for 115million euros and last December’s move by RWE Innogy to invest in purpose-built vessels for installation of turbines and foundations. United Technologies Company (UTC) also recently completed its £139.5million buyout of wind turbine maker Clipper Windpower.

There is a serious limitation in terms of specialised providers across the supply chain in offshore wind. Whether it’s cables, turbines, skilled workers, ports or logistics it is a nascent industry that is in the process of specialisation. There are bottlenecks that need to be overcome in just about every part of the supply chain.

Other sectors such as coal, gas or nuclear have an existing pool of suppliers who can provide services on a turnkey basis. In wind however, the utilities are discovering that they need to do a bit more on their own balance sheet.

There is growing interest being shown in wind by oil service firms. Before wind was seen as a distraction but now it is a much more interesting business. Oil companies have the natural skills and resources for it.

The offshore wind supply chain is just not robust enough yet. Increasing demand, interest and investment in wind will make resources even scarcer. There is a bit of a chicken and egg game going on between the resource suppliers and the companies. They know they want them but they don’t want to have to pay for them now as the financing difficulties make the process uncertain. There isn’t a lot of money to invest ahead of the game but companies are equally nervous that if they wait a year they will be at the back of the queue.

In March, Wind Energy Update is hosting the Offshore Wind Energy Supply Chain Conference. The leading Developers and OEMs are represented at the conference to establish an industry blueprint of what it takes to succeed as a trusted supplier in the European Offshore wind energy industry.

• Head of Procurement - Offshore - RWE Innogy
• Director - Head of Technology and Procurement - Vattenfall Wind Power
• Managing Director, Offshore - GAMESA
• Offshore Product Deployment Manager - GE Wind Energy
• Managing Director - Beluga Offshore

Learn to develop deeper relationships with long term suppliers, how to cope with order fluctuations and demands for greater manufacturing flexibility and reduce your risks with carefully selected strategic partnerships.

 
Find out more on this event at http://www.windenergyupdate.com/offshorewindsupplychain/