Wood Thilsted, COP Frontier launch next-generation offshore wind foundation company

Industry veteran Jonathan Cole has been appointed as executive chair to lead Neretek, which has developed next-generation offshore wind foundation, Neretek BC90, that is designed to unlock deepwater deployment, delivering the simplicity of monopiles in transitional water depths of 60-90 m, enabling scalable, lower-risk, and lower-cost wind energy in the  UK’s emerging ‘Other Deepwater Offshore Wind’ (ODOW) category. 

The launch of Neretek comes at an important moment, following the announcement of Allocation Round 8 on 6 July, in which the UK Government outlined its plans to grow the sector, seeking proposals seek to exploit the UK’s potential for offshore wind in depths of 60-90 m.

Currently, a significant part of the UK’s strongest wind resources are beyond the reach of fixed-bottom foundations, which become uneconomic in deeper waters. Until now, such projects have been considered solely for floating offshore wind, with cost and industrialisation considerations raising questions about the potential to deploy at scale in the near term.

Neretek says its ‘ready-to-launch’ BC90 is deployable using a combination of proven technologies, can be manufactured from existing local supply chain capabilities, and uses existing port infrastructure, without reliance on large specialist vessels. “It presents the most cost-effective method to deploy in deep waters with significantly lower CAPEX than deepwater monopiles or jackets in depths of 60-90 m,” the company claims.

Mr Cole said, “Neretek’s BC90 technology is capable of removing the potential hiatus between existing fixed offshore wind designs and yet-to-be-commercialised floating offshore wind. This allows the offshore industry to maintain momentum at a critical time for the delivery of clean, affordable, secure energy supplies.”

Wood Thilsted founder and chief executive Alastair Muir Wood said, “Wood Thilsted and COP Frontier have developed an innovative market-first solution to one of the most challenging questions in offshore wind engineering – how to provide an affordable solution to fixed structures at depths of 60-90m. 

“We are confident that the Neretek BC90 provides such a solution through rigorous research, design and testing. Moreover, by utilising existing supply chains and materials, we believe that we have found a cost-effective, deployable solution to exploiting the stronger winds in deeper waters.”

COP Frontier chief operating officer Alan Hannah said, “Neretek’s BC90 technology represents an important step forward for the offshore wind industry. By directly addressing some of the sector’s most pressing cost and development challenges, it has the potential to improve project viability, accelerate deployment, and strengthen the long-term competitiveness of offshore wind. We believe solutions such as BC90 will be instrumental in maintaining momentum and unlocking more offshore wind in the UK and around the world.”

COP Frontier is a sister company to offshore wind development leader Copenhagen Offshore Partners.