Gamesa and Areva to form JV to strengthen offshore wind power market

Gamesa and Areva will join hand to create a 50/50 joint-venture (JV) company in offshore wind power market.

The JV will be engaged in developing competitive and reliable technologies in the wind power market through expertise, innovation and investments in R&D.

This market will also be contributed by the JV through its industrialization capacity and expertise in the development of a supply chain, internal and external; application of efficient onshore practices into offshore activities.

The JV is said to get benefit from Areva’s experience in several wind power projects and Gamesa’s comprehensive technological capabilities in onshore and offshore.

This JV, which will also enter into a preferred supplier agreement with Gamesa for some key components, will continue to market Areva’s M5000 turbine.

Additionally, the JV will focus on developing a 5MW generation turbine in the short-term using Gamesa’s multi-megawatt technologies.

Further, the JV will work on accelerating the development of the next generation of turbines benefiting from investment efforts undertaken to date by Gamesa and Areva.

In the UK and France, the JV will fulfill current industrial development commitments including the development of a turbine assembly plant and blades manufacturing facility at Le Havre, and the implementation of a network of sub-contractors and partners.

Gamesa chairman Ignacio Martin said the JV will enable Gamesa to gain additional profit in the offshore wind market complementary with its 2013-2015 Business Plan.
"Likewise, this joint venture will pave the way for the creation of a leading and cutting-edge company in the offshore segment with know-how across the end-to-end wind energy value chain," added Martin.

For the creation of the JV, Gamesa and Areva will sign the definitive agreements within the next few months following final negotiations between both the parties.