DEME and Windreich form JV to develop the offshore wind project Merkur Offshore
DEME Concessions Wind nv (“DEME”) and the Windreich Group of companies (“Windreich”) announce the close of a joint venture between DEME and Windreich, the company said in its press release.
Under the terms of the joint venture Windreich contributed the MEG I project rights into Merkur Offshore GmbH, the new project company that will build and operate the project, and which is held by the partners DEME and Windreich. DEME and Windreich also agreed that the project will be renamed and further referred to as Merkur Offshore.
Merkur Offshore, formerly known as MEG I, is a permitted 400MW offshore wind farm project with secured grid connection, located approximately 45km north of Borkum in the German exclusive economic zone of the North Sea. Combining favourable sea bed conditions with one of the strongest and most reliable wind resources in the world, Merkur Offshore will be one of Germany’s largest wind farms in the North Sea, contributing significantly to Germany’s energy transition plans.
Merkur Offshore was originally developed by Windreich through a special purpose company. In March 2015 DEME announced its involvement in the project. Since then, the Merkur Offshore team has been staffed with over 20 package managers, contract negotiators and financial specialists. The project team is led by Holger Grubel from ONP Management (until recently project director of Vattenfall’s Dan Tysk and Sandbank projects) and Michael van der Heijden from Amsterdam Capital Partners (responsible for bringing the 600MW Gemini offshore wind project to financial close).
About DEME Concessions
DEME Concessions is a subsidiary of DEME. DEME Concessions regroups all concessions of the DEME group in the field of dredging and land reclamation, offshore wind energy, wave and tidal energy and offshore mineral resources. DEME’s core business of dredging and land reclamation is supplemented by diversified activities that address different strategic drivers and future global challenges: complex hydraulic projects at sea, services to oil and gas firms, the installation of offshore wind farms, environmental activities such as soil remediation and sediment recycling, revalidation of brownfield sites and wreck clearance. Its multi-disciplinary know-how and experience have allowed the DEME Group to grow into a global solutions provider. The Group owns one of the most modern, high-tech and versatile fleets for dredging and hydraulic engineering activities. Active since 1852, the Group's solutions have never been more relevant than today, and this is reflected in its key figures: DEME employs 4,600 people worldwide and realised a turnover of EUR 2.58 billion in 2014.
About GeoSea
GeoSea is a fast growing company specialising in complex offshore marine engineering projects. The company is part of the Belgian DEME Group, active across the globe. GeoSea has participated in the construction of large-scale offshore wind farms including the Alpha Ventus project, the EnBW Baltic 2 wind farm, the Trianel West Brokum II wind farm in German waters, the Westermost Rough project in the UK, the West of Duddon Sand met mast installation in the UK, the Walney and the Ormonde farms in the Irish Sea and the C-Power and the Northwind wind farms off the Belgian Coast. In 2015 GeoSea will undertake works on several offshore windfarm projects as Godewind in Germany and Kentish Flats Extension in the UK. GeoSea’s business also covers more traditional activities such as soil investigation, drilling of large diameter piles and high-tech directional drilling. GeoSea relies on its ability to provide innovative techniques and high operational reliability through high-tech equipment. GeoSea’s jack-up platforms include Innovation, Neptune, Goliath, Vagant, Buzzard, Zeebouwer, Halewijn and Tijl II.
