SBM Offshore targeting 2 GW of floating wind as co-developer/tech provider

Announcing details of its half-year 2021 earnings, the company said it is targeting projects in various parts of the world.

SBM Offshore said it foresees opportunities for at least 6 GW of floating wind in the next decade and this is expected to grow significantly over the next few years. “Our ambition is to co-develop or participate as a technology or turnkey provider in 2 GW of this pipeline,” the company said.

The company noted that it has already taken a position as a co-developer in floating offshore wind projects with the establishment of a joint venture, Floventis Energy, with Cierco Ltd.

Floventis Energy will seek to secure seabed rights and permits to develop and implement floating wind projects and is already working on its first project, the Llŷr project, which covers the lease of two 100-MW floating wind test and demonstration sites in the Celtic Sea, for which the Crown Estate, the UK seabed authority, recently confirmed an intention to move forward with a lease process.

A formal award for the Llŷr project will be subject to a Habitats Regulations Assessment, following which, the project will progress with environmental assessments and surveys in line with regulatory consent processes.

In France, SBM Offshore is providing and installing three floating foundations and mooring systems for the 25-MW Provence Grand Large project in the Mediterranean.

Assembly of the first components has started as planned and the floating substructures are due to be ready for load-out and installation at the end of 2022.

The company said Provence Grand Large is on track to be the first floating offshore wind project to make use of tension leg platform technology.

As exclusively highlighted by OWJ in July 2020, construction contracts for the project have been awarded to Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, who will supply the 8.4-MW turbines for the project, SBM Offshore, which is responsible for the floater and for turbine installation, and Prysmian, for the inter array and export cables. RTE is responsible for the grid connection. A separate contract will also be awarded for the maintenance of the balance of plant over the lifetime of the project.

The SWP-8.0-154 turbines will be installed on SBM Offshore’s tension leg platform at a site approximately 40 km west of Marseille, which will act as the marshalling harbour for the project, in a water depth of approximately 100 m with a mean wind speed of circa 10 m/second.