New venture to build offshore wind platforms in Germany

German yard group Meyer, which includes Neptun Werft in Warnemünde, is joining forces with the Belgian company Smulders in a new venture to build offshore converter platforms at Neptun’s Warnemünde yard. They have the intention to jointly found the companies Neptun Smulders Offshore Renewables and Neptun Smulders Engineering, which will take over the design and manufacture of the platforms. As a first step, the new company will create up to 100 jobs in Warnemünde. The contemplated joint venture is currently still subject to regulatory approval from the competition authorities and is expected to be operational during the first quarter of 2024. In order to achieve the German Government's ambitious expansion targets for offshore wind energy, a leap in the size and technology of converter platforms to 2 GW capacity and high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission technology is required, a statement said. "We are combining the Meyer Group's expertise in large-scale complex shipbuilding with Smulders' offshore experience in a unique way to enable the jump to the new 2 GW offshore converter platform size with high voltage direct current technology,” the companies said.