SBM Offshore, Technip Energies Establish Joint Venture Dedicated to Floating Wind

July 5, 2024, by Adnan Memija

French Technip Energies and Dutch SBM Offshore have established Ekwil, a 50/50 joint venture company focused on floating offshore wind energy.

According to the companies, Ekwil is a pure player delivery partner offering a range of “series production” floating offshore wind solutions to meet the growing needs of energy customers worldwide.

“It’s just a question of time for market potential in Floating Offshore Wind power to materialize. This collaboration with Technip Energies ensures the availability of optimal solutions with certainty and reliability in delivery,” said Øivind Tangen, CEO of SBM Offshore.

The joint venture is said to combine Technip Energies’ semi-submersible INO and SBM Offshore’s tension leg platform Float4Wind to advance floating offshore wind. This approach covers a large spectrum of the floating offshore wind market, aiming to bring these technologies to commercial deployment, said the partners.

In March 2024, Technip Energies and SBM Offshore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create the floating offshore wind joint venture.

Based in France, Ekwil employs a team of 40 specialists and will be backed by the resources of SBM Offshore and Technip Energies for project execution.

Séverine Baudic, former managing director of New Energies & Services at SBM Offshore, is the CEO of Ekwil, while Willy Gauttier, previous vice president of floating offshore wind at Technip Energies, is the COO.