Offshore wind power: Gamesa and Areva create the joint-venture Adwen

Gamesa and Areva have signed today the final agreements, closing the transaction and creating Adwen, a joint venture dedicated to offshore wind, having 700 employees, 50-50 owned by the two companies and registered in Zamudio, Spain.

The joint-venture is responsible for the design, manufacturing, installation, commissioning and services of offshore wind turbines. Combining both Gamesa and Areva wind expertise and extensive track-record, Adwen is ideally positioned to become a leading player in the offshore wind segment, with a 2.8 GW project pipeline and the objective of garnering a market share of close to 20% in Europe by 2020.

The offshore market represents one of the most promising areas for the development of renewable energies over the next decade, particularly in the coastal countries of northern Europe, where the installed base should reach over 25 GW by 2020. Besides, the experience accumulated by both partners in Asia will enable the company to benefit from the huge offshore wind potential of this region, which could reach 17 GW of installed capacity by 2020.

Adwen is chaired by Louis-François Durret, CEO of Areva Renewable Energies and the Board of Directors is composed of eight members, four appointed by each parent company. The General Manager is Luis Álvarez, Chief Operating Officer of Gamesa’s offshore activities.

Adwen has corporate offices in France, Spain, UK and Germany.

Adwen offers its customers a comprehensive products and services portfolio, providing solutions adapted to project specific requirements with:

• The Adwen 8MW platform, initiated by Areva and further optimized thanks to Gamesa’s technological expertise, will reach serial production in 2018. With its 1GW project pipeline and an outstanding energy production, the AD 8 MW is set to be a market frontrunner.
• The Adwen 5MW platform offers two complementary 5 MW turbines available for immediate projects: the AD 5-135 and AD 5-132. The AD 5-135, formerly called M5000-135, is AREVA’s 5MW technology with an installed base of 650 MW which will reach 1GW with Wikinger wind farm installation. The AD 5-132, developed by Gamesa and formerly called G132-5.0 MW Offshore, complements the product portfolio with a competitive turbine.

Adwen will manufacture these turbines in its existing plants in Germany, Bremerhaven and Stade, ideally positioned to equip North Sea and Baltics projects. The company will fulfill industrial commitments engaged by Areva and Gamesa, in France and in UK, comprising the creation of factories in Le Havre and the implementation of a network of suppliers and partners throughout the country.