Business
Happy holidays OW Team!
Another amazing year comes to a close… and it’s all thanks to each and every one of you!
Your talent, dedication, and commitment are what make us one of the top companies in the industry, year after year.
As we wrap up 2024, we hope you enjoy the holiday season and enter the new year with joy and energy.
We look forward to an incredible 2025 together, continuing to pOWering today, empOWering tomorrOW!
Projects
MoU Signed with the University of Melbourne!
Just last week, we revealed an exciting partnership with the University of Melbourne through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
This collaboration builds on our earlier MoU with Monash University for the recently secured High Sea Wind project in Gippsland. This latest partnership is designed to foster a collaborative relationship centered on exchanging ideas, expertise, and methodologies to advance Australia’s burgeoning offshore wind sector. Together, we aim to balance energy transition goals with biodiversity preservation, workforce development, and environmental stewardship.
The University of Melbourne, with its longstanding history of pioneering research and advancing industries, was a natural choice for OW collaboration. The university is also a key player in the Australian Centre for Offshore Wind Energy (ACOWE), a national initiative that unites several universities to provide evidence-based solutions and build a skilled workforce for sustainable offshore wind development.
As our very own Chief Business Development Officer, Rafael Munilla, aptly points out, “Putting this expertise at the service of the Australian market, through our High Sea Wind project in Gippsland, not only represents our commitment to leveraging experience and unlocking local opportunities, but it also makes sure that all actors are taking an active part in making these opportunities sustainable and locally focused.”
First turbine blades arrive in Port de Saint Nazaire for our Îles d’Yeu et Noirmoutier project!
Special delivery in Saint-Nazaire! The very first blades for our Îles d’Yeu and Noirmoutier project have arrived, marking a key project milestone in our construction journey. As our teams gear up to go live by the end of next year, there is lots going on.
Some key highlights from the delivery:
- The 16 Siemens Gamesa turbine blades are each 81 meters long – that’s 1.5x the height of the Arc de Triomphe!
- Once installed, the 61 turbines, will generate a total capacity of 500MW supplying clean energy to 800,000 people
- The 2.5 years construction generates roughly 1,600 direct jobs in France driving local economic growth
Congratulations to our teams on this exciting development, keep making us #ProudtobeOW.
Stay tuned as we approach more exciting developments on our journey to full power!
Pictures of the year
This time, we’ve replaced our usual Picture of the Month with something very special: Pictures of the Year.
These celebrate our four projects under simultaneous construction, and remind us all how far we’ve come as ONE TEAM!
OW’s Global Presence
Closing out the year with our last events!
In case you missed it, earlier this fall, our very own John Dempsey, Project Director for Bluepoint Wind, joined New Jersey’s African American Chamber of Commerce for a radio show interview. The conversation emphasized Bluepoint Wind’s commitment to the Just Transition, showcasing how the project aims to ensure equitable benefits across communities. In a collaborative spirit, the team invited local partners, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance to share insights on offshore wind’s potential for advancing environmental justice and unlocking economic opportunities for historically underserved communities.
At the end of November, our OW team in Poland and Innovation team hosted a webinar showcasing Poland’s leadership in offshore wind innovation! Supported by key regional partners, the event attracted more than 100 attendees and highlighted our innovation ecosystem and identified key areas of innovation within the offshore wind supply chain. Participants can submit their innovative proposals by January 31, 2025!
And that wasn’t all! Our team also joined a community meeting in Choczewo, organized by local authorities and attended by municipal leaders, residents, and energy developers. The session covered plans for electrical substations to transmit offshore wind power across the country, with Aleksandra Jampolska and Tomasz Rabeszko sharing updates on our BC-Wind project. Regular meetings like this ensure transparency, build trust, and maintain open communication with our local communities!
Later in the month, we welcomed 11 scholarship students from Moray, Aberdeenshire, and Highland to the Port of Nigg and our O&M office in Buckie – inaugurated earlier this fall. At Nigg, Siemens Gamesa experts guided them through turbine engineering, exploring nacelle and tower structures. At Buckie, our OW teams inspired the students by sharing their career stories, showcasing advanced operations technology, and emphasizing the importance of teamwork in offshore wind. The students also boarded a Crew Transfer Vessel, getting a hands-on glimpse of life offshore.
This visit, part of our scholarship program launched in 2022, reflects OW’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of offshore wind professionals, equipping them with the knowledge and motivation to shape a sustainable future.
And to wrap up the year, our OW team participated in the #CarreradelasEmpresas, taking to the streets of Madrid!! More than 40 teammates formed our “yellOW wave,” lighting up the city with teamwork, dedication, and unstoppable enthusiasm!! Congrats to all!
What’s new in offshore?
The Brazilian OSW legal mark is now approved!
Back again with another Regulation Flash, coming in with great news: the first-ever Brazilian OSW legal mark has been approved!
This new offshore wind framework is a landmark regulatory, expected to deliver significant economic benefits while fostering opportunities for national stakeholders in the renewable energy sector!
Emphasizing environmental sustainability and national industry promotion, the framework does not grant automatic rights for grid connections or subsidies but rather requires separate applications for these.
This new legal mark establishes two mechanisms for securing seabed rights: 1) a planned offer, involving auctions of pre-selected areas, and 2) a permanent offer, allowing developers to request rights for other locations
At OW, we are proud to have played a key role in shaping this strategic framework through strong partnerships, brand positioning, and active advocacy. Our contributions include:
- Advocating for flexibility in spatial maritime planning.
- Supporting equitable distribution of grid reinforcement costs across generation sources.
- Influencing the inclusion of economic and qualitative criteria for seabed allocation to ensure a balanced approach.
- Championing provisions for developers to resolve overlaps before government-led tenders.
Excited for what’s ahead!
People
‘Let's Collaborate’ Christmas campaign
As Christmas approached, we, at OW, made the most of this special time of year, welcoming the holiday season with many solidarity initiatives!
This year, within the ‘Let’s Collaborate’ Christmas Campaign, we got the opportunity to bring together the One Team and develop different voluntary activities that allowed us to make a positive impact on the local communities around us, including two main actions:
- One Team Food Collection Action: First, thank you all for your great participation!! We have collected more than 300 kilos of food and hygiene products that have been donated to local NGOs globally!
- Local Voluntary Actions: About 95 volunteers have dedicated 275 hours to help their community! Each geography has chosen an activity within their community, supporting soup kitchens. Thank you for your time and participation!!
These global actions, with local impact, demonstrate our commitment to support those in need and make a meaningful difference in our local communities, always together as One Team!!
Thank you all for your enthusiasm, time, and commitment to making this December so special!!
Let’s carry this spirit of solidarity and collaboration into the new year!
InnOWation
We close another great acceleration phase at INNOW 2024!
Last week, the five INNOW teams came together to celebrate INNOW’s final face-to-face session, marking the conclusion of the 14-week acceleration phase.
The five teams presented to the Innovation Committee and a representation of OW Management Team the status of their initiatives and their progress throughout the OW’s Product Lifecycle (see image below).The OW Product Lifecycle defines the different stages that any internal idea must go through to be implemented at OW, as well as the success factors the teams must match to move from one stage to the next. After 14 weeks, all the initiatives are in Stage 2 of the Product Lifecycle:
So, after their progress, the teams presented their proposed next steps for each idea in this innovative journey—which is far from over!
During the Acceleration phase of INNOW, the teams began with five challenges faced by our company. They analysed these challenges in great depth over several weeks to identify a series of problems worth solving.
For those problems, they proposed innovative solutions, which are now being tested with internal customers to evaluate their potential for improving OW. These challenges cover a wide range of topics, including improving O&M and H&S simultaneously, enhancing local content proposals in Projects, increasing trust from Governments in our bids, boosting knowledge sharing across OW, and generating additional revenues.
Nineteen OW team members participated in this innovative journey, contributing their expertise, creativity, and talent to drive these ideas forward!
Daniel Santa Cruz, Innovation Director, shares: “I want to thank all the participants who dedicated their time to thoroughly understanding the challenges and developing sensible, innovative solutions for them, thus helping us take OW to the next level. These colleagues have embodied all the positive behaviours that come with innovation, such as courage, persistence, curiosity, honesty, teamwork, and, above all, a lot of hard work. As I told them, they can call themselves intrapreneurs now!
And of course, I want to thank my colleagues on the OW Innovation Committee as well for providing the necessary feedback to keep the teams focused.
I am truly excited to see how innovation is flowing more and more among OW people at all levels of our company, as this will undoubtedly translate into direct improvements for OW.”
For more information about the detailed status of teams and ideas, please visit the INNOW sharepoint!
Stay tuned!
LinkedIn post of the month
Closing the year by looking back at one of our best moments... the 2024 OW Global Meeting!
