Ideol Raises EUR 8 Million, Attracts Familiar Names

French floating offshore wind developer Ideol has raised an additional EUR 8 million in financing to boost growth and accelerate international development.

In the latest financing round, the German company Siem Offshore Contractors and the Japanese company Hitachi Zosen became the shareholders in Ideol.

Other investors included Amundi Private Equity Funds, a subsidiary of Amundi Group, and some of Ideol’s existing shareholders such as Tertium, PACA Investissement, and Conseil Plus Gestion.

The company said that Siem’s fleet of cable laying and installation support vessels is particularly suited for the installation of floating wind farms.

Hitachi Zosen has been in charge of the construction of three of Japan’s five full-scale floating demonstration projects.

The company has been a partner of Ideol for the last two years, partnership which will first translate into the installation and commissioning of Ideol’s first Japanese floater in 2018.

“The partnership agreements signed with these internationally-recognized companies give Ideol the unique capability of providing its clients with a turnkey solution on all major markets, from the engineering and construction of its patented floating foundations to their offshore installation,” Paul de la Guérivière, Ideol’s CEO, said.

”We believe that such global and integrated approach is rapidly becoming a true added value as the first commercial-scale projects are right around the corner. These partnerships also underline Ideol’s unique international position as the only floating technology supplier with full-scale demonstration projects in the world’s two major markets: Europe and Japan.”