A2Sea, the Danish offshore wind farm installation vessel and cable-laying group, is looking at the Far East as a potential new market for growth of its business, said Hans Schneider, COO of the Fredericia-based company.
In Europe, the volume of wind farm installation work has fluctuated from one year to another, but Schneider said the trend has been a rising one and the outlook remains encouraging up to at least 2020 or 2025. The offshore wind farm industry does require a certain degree of subsidies to remain profitable, but governments are willing to do this to drive down the cost of this green form of energy, he said in a presentation to journalists during Danish Maritime Days.
A second driver of the industry arises from the fact that many old coal-fired or nuclear-powered power stations have to be shut down due to their age, but it is not possible to replace them with similar facilities in regions with major population centres.
The Far East in general and China in particular is a new growth market in this area and A2Sea has just carried out its first installation project in the region. This was a test project in Taiwan that included just two turbines. However, Schneider said the region offers lucrative prospects for the company to grow its business and it is in the process of developing a strategy how to achieve this. Finding a local partner is a likely requirement in this, he said.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.