Oil & gas industry player BW Offshore said it will help create a “global floating wind champion” after investing in sector pioneer Ideol.

Oslo-based BW Offshore will invest €60m ($72m) to become a “strategic owner” of privately-held Ideol, which will be rebadged under a new entity called BW Ideol and steered to a stock market listing to help fund its development plans.

BW Ideol “will have clear strategic targets; growth as a technology and EPC services provider, expanding and maturing a significant portfolio of development projects and becoming a long-term asset owner and operator,” said a statement announcing the deal.

Marco Beenen, CEO of BW Offshore, said: “We see solid opportunities for developing offshore power production solutions to drive energy transition at global scale. We are combining our four decades of offshore development, financing and operational experience with Ideol’s proven floating offshore wind technology and expertise.

“Together we are creating a champion in this emerging market with significant long-term growth and value creation potential.”

France-based Ideol is one the key pioneers of floating wind, and along with Equinor and Principle Power, one of a handful of technology developers with prototypes actually in the water.

Ideol’s FloatGen unit off France – the country’s first offshore wind turbine of any type – has been turning since 2018, and in 2020 logged increased year-on-year power output with capacity factors outstripping fixed-bottom offshore wind.

Ideol also has a prototype using its “damping pool” platform off Japan, which is also among a clutch of countries where commercial-scale floating developments are planned using the French group’s technology. Ideol is also involved in the Eolmed pilot floating array off France alongside Total, and a bid into the Scotwind leasing round in Scotland with Germany's BayWa.

Paul de la Guérivière, Ideol’s CEO said: “Our established position in floater design and engineering, coupled with BW Offshore’s track-record of project development and deep-water expertise, provides a strong platform for accelerated growth as a leader in floating offshore wind technology and growing developer of offshore renewable energy projects.”

BW Offshore said the Ideol management team will continue to lead the company, which as BW Ideol will be “backed by BW Offshore as a long-term industrial partner”.

BW Offshore will also provide a convertible shareholder loan of up to €10m to finance BW Ideol’s current development plans and working capital requirements through 2021.

BW Offshore plans a capital raising, and to list BW Ideol on Oslo’s Euronext Growth Index by the end of March this year, after which the Norwegian group expects to hold about 50% of the company, with Ideol’s employees and management owning about 20%.

Floating wind markets are on the verge of explosive growth globally with analysts expecting a near-1,000-fold expansion of the current embryonic fleet as international supply chains take shape to support development of commercial-scale projects around the world, including in key markets in Europe’s northern seas, the US Pacific and off Asia Pacific, where DNV GL believe half of the 260GW of worldwide floating wind forecast will be turning by 2050.

Wind

Floating wind pioneer Ideol eyes 'global champion' role as oil & gas player takes charge