Danish energy company Dong Energy will continue to be the main shareholder, while Siemens will pay approximately €115m (£94m) in two instalments – this year and next – for 49 per cent of the company.
A2SEA, based in Fredericia in Denmark, employs about 200 people and, together with Siemens, the company will build vessels optimised for the installation of offshore wind turbines.
The investment agreement, which is still subject to approval from anti-trust authorities, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
Today, the UK is by far the most important offshore wind market, but offshore projects in Germany are gaining momentum. In addition, countries such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Finland and Norway are also considering building offshore wind power farms.
’Outside Europe, we see good opportunities for offshore wind – especially in China with its shallow water near the coast, as well as in the US, where Siemens already has been selected for the Cape Wind project,’ said Wolfgang Dehen, chief executive officer of the Siemens Energy Sector.
In May this year, Vattenfall awarded A2SEA a contract to transport 30 5MW RePower turbines from Belfast Harbour to the Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm, 10km off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness in the Irish Sea.
In addition to providing the specialist jack-up barge Seajack and its crew, A2SEA is taking care of all the logistics and planning involved in transporting the 30 turbines and lifting the components into place ready for in-situ assembly by an external crew.
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