OWC, WavEC Form Floating Offshore Wind Pact in Portugal

July 20, 2023, by Adnan Memija

The Offshore Wind Consultants (OWC) has entered into a partnership with Portugal-based WavEC to jointly offer services to the Portuguese offshore wind market.

The partners said that this collaboration pools OWC’s global capabilities and track record in more than 50 floating wind projects with WavEC’s market presence, offshore site testing resources and expertise in environmental impact assessment and the optimisation of operations and maintenance in floating wind.

“The cornerstone of this partnership is the successful cooperation between our two companies over many years and numerous projects, creating a foundation of trust to best serve renewable energy markets at home and abroad. Together we are able to provide a wider service offering and stronger capacity to support the expansion of commercial-scale floating wind in new markets”, said Marco Alves, president of WavEC’s board of directors.

Founded in 2003, WavEC’s services include environmental monitoring, technology development, project development, advisory and strategy, numerical modelling, and training.

Headquartered in Lisbon, the company manages an offshore test site for floating, wave energy, and other ocean technologies, together with the Portuguese research institute INESC TEC.

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OWC is a specialist global consultancy that helps develop and deliver projects and investments in offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, battery energy storage, hydrogen, and wave and tidal energy.

The company operates across 14 countries, and specialises in project development services, owner’s engineering, and technical due diligence. Last month, OWC entered into an agreement with Denmark-based Delta Wind Partners (DWP) to acquire 100 per cent of the shares of the company.

“By bringing together our teams at OWC and WavEC, we are providing an optimal competence mix to support the Portuguese offshore wind market. We have already been working side by side on many innovation projects globally, and development projects locally. Historically, we also both have experience on the country’s pioneering floating wind project, Windfloat Atlantic. We are now well placed to support the next 10GW of floating wind together,” said William Cleverly, CEO of OWC.

When it comes to Portugal, the country identified draft areas for offshore wind development as part of the government’s plan to award 10 GW of capacity that would be grid-connected by 2030.

Last week, the Portuguese government narrowed down the initially identified areas to three that would be offered for development later this year.