US, German Companies Partner for US Offshore Wind

US-based Keystone Engineering Inc. and the German civil engineering company Jörss-Blunck-Ordemann GmbH (JBO) have entered into a strategic partnership to jointly provide offshore wind farm designs that are tailor-made to the growing US offshore wind market.

The parties said that, as the US offshore wind industry gains more momentum, it is becoming more apparent that the US market poses significant differences in key areas of design compared to other parts of the world.

With this new partnership, Keystone and JBO will provide a set of technical services that utilise an American and European team with a proven track record of involvement in over 40 GW of offshore wind energy development, according to the companies.

Walid Al Otaibi, director of Offshore at JBO, said that the company, together with Keystone, adapted the holistic design approach, in which all design activities can be performed in-house.

The companies said that this partnership will enable the design of successful offshore wind farms that combines the European advancements of the last two decades with the experience and local knowledge of American design codes, offshore environmental loads, supply chain, and federal and state regulations all while being performed under the direct supervision of licensed professional engineers.

“Keystone is a pioneer design firm and a leader in US offshore wind for the last 15 years and the partnership with our colleagues at JBO magnifies our commitment to advance this industry in the US. This collaboration is a significant step towards expanding our service offerings to the US offshore wind developers and paving the way to creating a sustainable industry in the US”, said Adam Rogge, Keystone’s CEO.

Keystone designed the foundations for the first offshore wind farm in the US, the Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island’s coast.

At the beginning of this year, the company entered into a partnership with Natural Power to pursue and collaborate on technical consulting and advisory business opportunities in the US offshore wind market.

The US set a national target of 30 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030 to jumpstart offshore wind energy and create tens of thousands of jobs in the sector over the next decade.

The offshore wind target will support around 77,000 direct and indirect jobs, and would also unlock a pathway to deploy 110 GW or more of offshore wind capacity by 2050.

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