Engie and EDPR JV ‘Ocean Winds’ is Officially Launched

ENGIE and EDPR have announced the creation of Ocean Winds, a JV equally controlled by both companies in the floating and fixed offshore wind energy sector.

ENGIE and EDP Renováveis (EDPR) have announced the creation of Ocean Winds (OW), a joint venture (JV) equally controlled by both companies in the floating and fixed offshore wind energy sector. The new company will act as the exclusive investment vehicle to capture marine wind energy opportunities around the world and will become one of the top five offshore global operators by combining the industrial and development capacity of both parent companies.

Spyros Martinis, CEO of OW, explained “OW has been created with the intention of combining the experience and knowledge of two companies with a successful track record in the generation of renewable energy under one single firm, in order to take a leading position in the marine wind sector. We share a vision for the key role of renewables in general, and offshore in particular, in the new energy model. The creation of a company combining the experience and resources of both will give us the chance to lead a sector in this increasingly real and necessary transition.”

When ENGIE and EDPR were looking for a name for the new business they brought in a team of scientists who could help to identify the sound of the wind in the Roman alphabet. They developed a specific algorithm and equipment to transcribe into letters the sound of the wind recorded offshore over a 48-hour period. The two most commonly occurring letters were “O” and “W”, thus giving rise to the name Ocean Winds.

Grzegorz Gorski, COO of OW, added “we are continuously monitoring the evolution and regulation of multiple countries. We are seeking not just to grow in the markets where we are already present, but also to explore opportunities to add value in new countries.”

In January, we had reported that the two firms signed an agreement to create a co-controlled 50/50 joint-venture (JV) in fixed and floating offshore wind. The signing of the agreement followed the announcement, on May 21, 2019, of a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a new entity as an exclusive vehicle of investment of EDPR and Engie for offshore wind opportunities worldwide, bringing together the industrial expertise and development capacity of both companies.