LOC Renewables, a part of LOC Group, the premier international marine and engineering consultancy, has announced it is to carry out marine warranty survey (MWS) services for the second phase of the Pinghai Bay Offshore Wind Farm near Putian, Fujian province, China, on behalf of Haixia Goldenbridge Insurance Co., Ltd. The agreement represents the first time MWS services have been delivered to the Chinese offshore wind market.
China’s installed offshore capacity jumped more than 60% in 2017, and its growing offshore market is aiming for a total grid-connected capacity of 5GW by 2020. Much of this future offshore development is slated to take place in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian provinces. As developers becoming increasingly aware of the need for stringent risk management and value that internationally accepted standards can bring to projects, Pinghai Bay will be the first Chinese offshore wind farm to employ MWS to ensure it meets the highest technical standards and minimise project risk. The agreement will see LOC Renewables carry out audit and risk consultancy services for the project from March until the end of 2018.
In recent years, as Chinese offshore wind projects have grown in scale and complexity the need for international expertise in the market has increased. In response, domestic insurers are partnering with international reinsurers to manage and mitigate the associated larger risks. Applying the higher standards required by international reinsurers, LOC Renewables will draw on its extensive experience in European, US and Asian offshore wind markets to provide MWS services on the Pinghai project from its Tianjin office.
“As offshore wind technology continues to proliferate across Asia, successful knowledge transfer based on best practices and lessons learned in the established offshore wind markets becomes ever more important,” said Ke Wan, Managing Director, LOC China.
“With a wealth of experience in Europe and the US, we’re increasingly working on projects across Asia, and are delighted to now be providing the first MWS services to China’s offshore wind market – services that bring real value in lower risk and will enable the project to achieve its full potential.”
“At 250MW, phase two of the Pinghai Bay Wind Farm represents a significant expansion on phase one, and we wanted to ensure that it met the highest technical and risk mitigation standards,” said Fan Ming, Business Director at Haixia Goldenbridge Insurance.
“In addition to their global experience, LOC Renewables’ familiarity with and presence in the local market was very important to us, and we’re looking forward to working closely with them to help bring this project to fruition and make a significant contribution to China’s expanding offshore wind market.”
With offices located across Asia, LOC Renewables has also provided some of the first MWS services to offshore wind projects in South Korea and Taiwan.
The LOC Renewables team is a part of LOC Group, a leading international marine and engineering consulting firm that was founded in 1979. Headquartered in London, the Group operates over 30 offices in 15 countries around the world, employing over 400 staff. The Group comprises subsidiary companies Longitude and John LeBourhis Associates.
LOC Renewables combines traditional LOC services with those of its sister company, Longitude Engineering. These services include marine warranty survey (MWS) services, marine & engineering consultancy, surveys, inspections & audits, claims, disputes & litigation, and management of marine casualties.
The company is now the market-leading MWS service provider and sits on the MWS advisory panel to the Joint Rig Committee of underwriters. LOC Renewables has acted as marine warranty surveyor on more than 30 offshore wind projects, thus making LOC Renewables the number one MWS provider in the offshore wind sector. This position on offshore wind is enhanced having provided engineering design and consulting services on a further 30 projects.
