Norway-headquartered Aker Solutions and the construction company Balfour Beatty have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deliver end-to-end design and construction services to the UK offshore wind industry.
Under the MoU, the partners will focus on concrete floating and gravity-based offshore wind projects.
The partnership will see the companies’ complementary skills, resources, and experience combined to offer a whole-life solution, according to the joint press release.
Balfour Beatty has a track record of executing civil engineering works for complex infrastructure and energy projects across the UK, while Aker Solutions has a history of delivering concrete structures for marine environments globally.
The partners have established a joint task force with personnel from both organisations responsible for identifying future opportunities.
“Concrete floating and gravity-based foundations are an excellent solution for offshore wind in the North Sea. They provide the level of performance needed in challenging sea conditions, demand high levels of local content and can be less carbon intensive than other go-to foundation solutions”, said Jason Brown , Aker Solutions’ Head of Renewables in the UK.
Initially, the UK Government set an offshore wind target of 40 GW by 2030, 1 GW of which was targeted for floating wind.
In April, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson presented a plan to boost Britain’s energy security. The plan included an increased target of up to 50 GW of operating wind capacity by 2030, of which the government would like to see up to 5 GW come in form of floating wind, the government said.
“Offshore wind has a pivotal role to play in increasing our use of renewable energy, which in turn is essential to achieving energy security and reducing carbon emissions. Only by moving further out to sea in deeper waters, can we achieve the UK’s ambitious 50 GW target for offshore wind deployment”, said Brown.