Orsted and Acciona team up 'to take floating wind to industrialisation stage'

Danish utility Orsted and Spanish infrastructure giant Acciona have entered a strategic partnership to commercialise floating wind with the mass production of platforms, while reducing its carbon footprint by using carbon-neutral materials such as bio-cement.

As part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), the companies plan to collaborate to reduce the technology’s levelised cost of electricity (LCOE), industrialise the fabrication of concrete foundations, and establish a European supply chain to support Orsted’s floating wind project pipeline.

“The goal of our collaboration with Acciona is to take floating wind from the innovation to the industrialisation stage,” Orsted Europe CEO Rasmus Errboe said.

“Orsted intends to further grow our European floating pipeline, with Spain being a key market of interest for us.

“Advancing floating wind technology and bringing it to market is a key strategic aim for Orsted’s floating wind programme, and supply chain partnerships are the way to do just that.”

The company added that more than a fifth of new offshore wind farms are estimated to be floating by the mid-2030s.

Acciona, a specialist in large-scale construction projects, will seek to explore the use of carbon-neutral bio-cement, bio-concrete and other materials that support both companies biodiversity and carbon reduction targets.

“This alliance will help us accelerate the development of our business as a supplier of offshore platforms for the wind power industry,” said Huberto Moreno, CEO of Acciona’s construction division.

“The expertise that Orsted brings to the table, as well as Acciona’s knowledge as a group of infrastructure and renewable energy, will be key to the success of this agreement.”

“Working with Acciona will help us take the next step to realise the potential of floating wind at scale here in Europe – to innovate, invest in the supply chain, and bring costs down, all while reducing carbon emissions,” said Gabriel Davies, head of Orsted’s floating wind programme.

“Orsted has done just that with seabed-fixed offshore wind, and we’re going to do it all over again with floating wind.”