BW Offshore says it is in “advanced discussions” to invest in floating offshore wind solutions provider Ideol.
The Oslo-listed floating storage, production and offloading specialist declined to give any further details about the deal, such as the size of its investment.
France-based Ideol is described as an “established provider of floating foundations for offshore wind” with more than a decade of experience in engineering and supporting floating offshore wind projects from conception to installation.
The company has two floating wind turbines in operation — one in France, off Le Croisic, and one in Japan, off Kitakyushu.
The company claims to be building up what it describes as a “sizeable pipeline of projects” as co-developer in Japan, Europe and the US.
More details next week
BW Offshore said it plans to provide more information about its long-term strategy and ambitions for investing in floating offshore wind at its fourth-quarter results announcement next week.
However, its parent company has already made its first overtures into the offshore wind market with BW Group investing in Cadeler, the former Swire Blue Ocean.
Cadeler, which recently listed in Oslo, has two wind turbine installation vessels in its fleet — the 24,586-gt Pacific Osprey and Pacific Orca (both built 2012).
Ideol, based in La Ciotat, was created in 2010 with the aim of developing both technically and economically viable floating foundation solutions for the offshore wind industry.
The company says maximising local content and optimising the entire process from construction to installation, maintenance and decommissioning have been its “key priorities since day one”.
Separately, BW Offshore also announced it has decided to record an impairment to the book value of the FPSOs Berge Helene, BW Cidade de São Vicente and Espoir Ivoirien amounting to $59.6m in the fourth quarter of 2020.
"The impairments reflect continued uncertainty around redeployment and extension for certain older units in the fleet," it said.
"The uncertainty is tied to market volatility and future development of oil prices, and also considering increased focus on energy transition."
