Offshore oil player SBM eyes 2GW of floating wind in 'strategic positioning'

Dutch floating oil & gas production specialist SBM Offshore through its Floventis Energy joint venture with Cierco is working on two demonstration projects in the Celtic Sea, and aims at co-developing 2GW of floating wind globally over the next decade.

“We are establishing a strategic position in the fast-developing floating offshore wind market,” SBM Offshore chief executive Bruno Chabas said as the company presented first half financial results.

“We intend to play a role in project co-development in order to enhance the positioning of our technology in the market.”

Current opportunities for the floating offshore wind market amount to at least 6GW for the next decade, the company reckoned, adding that its ambition is to co-develop or participate as a technology or turnkey provider in 2GW of this existing global pipeline.

SBM Offshore estimates it will need to spend some €150-200m over the next seven to eight years in associated development expenditure on its floating wind ambition.

The formal award will be subject to a so-called Habitats Regulations Assessment, SBM said, before an environmental assessment and surveys can be made as part of the regulatory consent process.

“Our participation in the 200MW Llŷr Project in the UK marks a first step. The EPC activities for the deployment of our first project in France in 2022 remain on track,” Chabas said.

Provence Grand Large is slated to be the first floating offshore wind project installed with tensioned leg platform technology.

SBM during the first half of 2021, saw its revenue decline by 9% to €1.07bn from the year-earlier period, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) fell 19% to €426m, and profit attributable to shareholders plunged by 36% to €61m.

Chabas in a conference call with analysts added the 2GW co-development goal showed the company had the ambition to become a market leader in the floating wind segment.

He said SBM would draw on its decades of experience serving the oil and gas industry in the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) oil & gas vessel segment.

“When you look at the complexity of offshore wind projects they’re beyond understanding at times," the CEO said.

"I mean the logistics aspect, the local content aspect, the way you assemble everything, is really quite challenging and really fairly commensurable to what we are doing on the FPSO market.

“So we are transferring this experience into the offshore wind market, making us confident, along with the technology that we have and the know-how that we have, that we can reach this ambition.”

Chabas stated SBM’s tension leg platform (TLP) design is a proven technology the company is bringing from the oil and gas industry to the renewable market, which he claims will provide a floating wind solution capable of high output with lower costs.

He believes the company’s design offers several benefits, including the reduced seabed footprint of the TLP mooring system, compared with some other floating wind designs.

“This makes an easier sub-sea configuration and optimises the seabed layout. This is particularly beneficial for the overall wind farm configuration,” Chabas explained.

“The system is very stable with limited motion which enables optimised turbine performance and facilitates more efficient offshore operation.”