The companies on Wednesday announced the signing of an agreement to explore the possibility of partnering on the design, manufacture and delivery of floating components. In particular, the two will examine potential collaboration in the areas of detailed design of floater components based on floating foundation design; development of partnerships with steel and shipbuilding manufacturers for the production of floater components, including order placement and manufacturing management; and transportation of floater components to base ports.
The companies cited forecasts that global floating offshore wind power generation capacity will increase from about 0.2 GW in 2022 to 269 GW in 2050, with around 800 new units expected to be installed annually by then. However, a supply chain has yet to be established, which could become a bottleneck in the expansion of the floating offshore wind market.
Sumitomo is an investor in the offshore wind sector, while JGC Group set up a department dedicated to this market in 2018.
The announcement included a scheme of major floating structure technologies for offshore wind turbines:
