The company that built the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm, which is based off the coast of Aberdeen, has been sold to a Japanese energy giant.
Flotation Energy, whose founders established the Kincardine Offshore Windfarm nine miles off Aberdeen, has been acquired by Japanese utilities giant Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) for an undisclosed sum.
Further details of the takeover have not been disclosed, but Edinburgh-headquartered Flotation said it means the firm is in “an even stronger position” to work on projects globally.
The deal is not thought to include the Kincardine offshore wind development, whose controlling owner is listed on Companies House as Grupo ACS, a Spanish civil engineering company led by the president of Real Madrid football club, Florentino Perez.
Flotation’s portfolio of more recent projects in development include fixed bottom offshore windfarms in Morecambe, Ireland and Australia, and floating offshore windfarms in the North Sea and the Celtic Sea.
One of its projects, known as Greenvolt, is a proposal for a floating offshore wind development near Buzzard, the North Sea’s largest oil and gas production facility, on a site 50 miles off the coast of Aberdeen.
Tepco is the largest utilities firm in Japan, with a market capitalisation of £4.3 billion.
Flotation Energy was founded in 2018 by Liberal Democrat peer and former deputy first minister Nicol Stephen along with offshore wind pioneer Allan MacAskill, a former BP engineer who spent ten years leading the development of the Beatrice offshore windfarm off the Moray coast.
Martin Gilbert, the co-founder of Aberdeen Asset Management, is the chairman and also an investor in Flotation.
Chief executive Lord Stephen said: “This is a very exciting development for Flotation Energy and recognises the strength and success of our world class team.
“We have pioneered the growth of floating wind across the globe and have a very significant pipeline of projects in the UK, Ireland, and Asia Pacific.
“This new partnership between Scotland and Japan represents a major commitment by Tepco.
“It will allow us to move forward quickly with our existing projects and to kick start new opportunities right around the world.
“Climate change is the biggest challenge facing our planet. A future of clean, green renewable energy has always been our goal.”
It comes amid a burgeoning floating wind market in Scotland, through rounds like INTOG and ScotWind, alongside increasing development interest in Japan.
The Goto wind project, a 16.8MW development and Japan’s first floating development, is due to be operational in 2024.
Masashi Nagasawa, Tepco renewable power president said: “We are very pleased and heartened to partner with Flotation Energy, which shares our mission to “deliver clean renewable energy and create a carbon neutral society” as we work together to further develop both companies.
“Flotation Energy’s experience and knowledge of the world’s biggest floating offshore wind development and their global network will vastly accelerate the development of our offshore wind business both domestically and internationally.
“Through our collaboration, we will realise our management philosophy of, ‘harnessing the natural resources to energy, and further society’ on a global scale.”
Conversation