Sumitomo buys into 'leading' German monopile manufacturer amid tantalising growth forecasts

Japan's Sumitomo Corporation has made an "investment and business operation participation agreement" with EEW Offshore Wind, a German company focussed on the fabrication of monopiles for bottom-fixed wind offshore wind turbines.

In its announcement, Sumitomo Corporation described EEW as a long-standing partner and a leading supplier of monopiles, "thanks to its advanced technology and high-quality welding capabilities", but did not reveal the size of the equity stake it has taken in the German company's business.

The investment aims to address a bottleneck in the European offshore wind power industry by ensuring a stable supply of monopiles, Sumitomo added.

EEW Offshore Wind Holding — which is one of three new holding companies to emerge from a restructuring of the family-owned EEW group of companies — said it now has a strong strategic partner with extensive expertise in the international steel market by its side.

EEW's monopile business is located at a production site in Rostock, Eastern Germany. Associated mechanical engineering activities are performed by its AWS Schafer subsidiary and services by EEW Management Services.

The group is organised under two additional holding companies — EEW Pipe Solutions Holding and EEW AOS Holding — and its asset-management arm has been taken over by a new company called DiScho Vermogensverwaltung GmbH.

“In order to continue to secure our position as global market leader, to continue to enable healthy growth and to be able to draw on sufficient resources to successfully handle large-scale projects, we, the owner families of Schorge and Dietze, have decided to bring a trusted strategic partner on board for this division,” said EEW Group Managing Partner Christoph Schorge.

“The majority shares remain with us as the owner families,” he added.

The joint statement by the two companies described Sumitomo Corporation as one of the largest integrated trading and business investment companies in the world , employing almost 80,000 people in 65 countries.

General manager of steel products SBU, Sumitomo Corporation, Takuro Horikoshi said: “We are excited to partner with EEW, enhancing our role in the offshore wind market.

“This investment aligns with our commitment of contributing to green transformation and global shift to renewable energy.”

EEW was described as a leading global supplier of monopiles with a production system "enabled by sophisticated technology to bend extra-thick steel plates... and advanced high-quality welding technology."

Sumitomo noted that European demand for monopiles as measured in steel volumes is forecast to increase from 650,000 tons per annum in 2023 to more than 1m tpa in 2026.

"In recent years, the energy market in Europe has undergone significant change, such as a major growth in the renewable energy sector and numerous large-scale offshore wind projects. Europe's offshore wind power development target is expected to rise to 164GW by 2030 and 549GW by 2050," the company stated.

Completion of Sumitomo's investment in EEW is scheduled for the end of December 2024, subject to legal and regulatory requirements.