Sembcorp Marine has confirmed a newbuilding contract for what is believed to be its first wind turbine installation vessel, but few details about the project have been released.
The Singapore-based group said the vessel would be built to its own in-house design in collaboration with the unnamed customer. Delivery is set for early 2025.
Sembcorp Marine said it had “collaborated with its customer intensively” over two years providing design development and verification work.
The Singapore-listed company said the WTIV newbuilding would be capable of handling the next generation of wind turbines. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The contract marks a watershed moment for Sembcorp Marine’s efforts to move away from oil-related businesses and focus on renewable energies such as offshore wind and hydrogen.
“With this contract win, Sembcorp Marine strengthens its position in the renewable energy segment, validating its strategy to transform itself into an innovative engineering solutions provider in the offshore, marine and energy industries with a strategic focus on sustainability,” the company said.
Sembcorp Marine chief executive Wong Weng Sun described the order as “another monumental step for the offshore wind industry”.
Sembcorp Marine’s net order book stood at SGD 1.3bn ($950m) at the end of the year, of which around 43% is for renewables and other cleaner and green solutions sectors.
During an analyst briefing following its full-year results in late February, Sembcorp Marine’s management commented that it is working on over SGD 10bn worth of orders and that demand from its addressable market has improved tremendously.
“It was evident during the results call that Sembcorp Marine is keenly aware that it needs to focus on clinching new orders, and it highlighted that there are a handful of large projects worth between SGD 500m-1b that could be announced in the next 6-12 months,” said UOB Kay Hian analyst Adrian Loh.
In addition to Singapore, Sembcorp Marine also operates shipyards and other facilities in Indonesia, the UK, Norway and Brazil.
