Isra-Mart srl:Offshore wind leaders join forces to cut cost of energy

www.isra-mart.com

Isra-Mart srl news:

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has signed an agreement with five leading engineering companies in a bid to cut the high cost of building offshore wind farms and boost the sector's emerging supply chain.

SSE today announced it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Siemens' wind turbine and grid connection companies, Burntisland Fabrications, Atkins, and subsea construction company Subsea 7, as part of a project designed to substantially reduce the cost of delivering power from its offshore wind farms.

The companies will now work together over the next few months to agree the formal commercial arrangements before starting work on the initiative.

Details of the technologies the group will work on remain sketchy, but they have confirmed that they plan to operate from Glasgow's Centre of Engineering Excellence for Renewable Energy, which was established by SSE and the University of Strathclyde.

The news comes after Narec and financial advisers Ashberg last week launched a joint venture designed to reduce the level of risk associated with investing in renewable energy projects and help secure fresh investment for the sector from wealthy families.

The two companies last week launched Narec Capital, a joint venture offering services in consultancy, finance, fund management and insurance that will aim to help take start-ups from early concept stage to full-scale manufacturing.

Ashberg specialises in representing individuals and families with at least £50m looking for investment opportunities. Narec Capital says it expects to deploy around £200bn of insurable assets offshore in the UK by 2020, either by finding suitable investment capital or by drawing from its own pot of funding, provided by Ashberg's wealthy clients.

Narec says its own expertise will help cut the cost of risk for investors, as it will be able to provide critical data to help underwriters "correctly" price risk attached to projects.

Narec chairman Alan Rutherford said Narec Capital will help provide investment for projects that commercial banks might not deem viable.

"Banks are reluctant to lend and funds are hesitant to invest as they wait for proven technologies," he said. "The answer must lie in lowering the risks for investors and I thus have no doubt that the insurance industry will be key to unlocking the capital markets for the renewable sector."