SeaEnergy link with EDP

Published Date: 17 March 2009

A SPECIALIST Aberdeen wind farm business has announced a joint venture with the world's fourth-largest renewable energy company, its third tie-up with a major European utility this year, writes Hamish Rutherford
SeaEnergy said it had formed a consortium with Portuguese group EDP Renewables to bid for projects in the third round of Crown Estate allocations, with nine sites up for grabs.Formed as a majority-owned subsidiary of Aberdeen-based energy company Ramco last June, SeaEnergy is built around a team of experts that oversaw the construction of the vast deep-water Beatrice turbine in the North Sea. In February, it was awarded 25 per cent stakes in projects off the coast of Scotland, with Scottish & Southern Energy's wind farm unit, Airtricity, and Germany's RWE.The latest consortium with Lisbon-based EDP has already submitted bids to the Crown Estate for sites off the English coast, and is thought to be planning to bid for others in Europe.Ramco's broker Ambrian was bullish about the firm's prospects with the new team. Analyst Dean Cooper said in a note to clients yesterday: "Partnering with these industry behemoths to chase the grand prize of the UK offshore wind industry build-out suggests that the future is bright for SeaEnergy".