SCOTTISH energy giant SSE has said it plans to bid for windfarm acreage off the Netherlands as it aims to become a significant player in renewable energy markets overseas.
The scale of investor interest in the sector was underlined yesterday when Aberdeen-based shipping business North Star said it had been acquired by a private equity heavyweight amid expectations the company will benefit from a surge in offshore windfarm activity.
SSE reckons it can achieve significant success overseas by deploying expertise that it has acquired leading work on the development of big windfarms off the UK, such as Beatrice off north east Scotland.
The company noted it recently entered the Japanese offshore wind market and is actively exploring options in Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United States.
READ MORE: Attack on SSE reflects investor interest in renewables
It said it plans to participate in tenders for a windfarm zone in the Dutch North Sea, which are set to take place in the first half of 2022.
Noting the tenders have a clear focus on innovation, the group said it expects to use its ecological and systems integration expertise to develop innovative solutions to current and future challenges, within the Dutch offshore wind sector and elsewhere.
Partners Group bought North Star from the Basalt Infrastructure Partners private equity business for an undisclosed sum.
North Star operates Emergency Response Vessels and specialised Service Operations Vessels that can be used to provide transport and accommodation for people working on offshore assets such as wind turbines.
Partners Group said North Star is well-positioned to capitalize on the transformative trends driving growth in the offshore wind industry.
READ MORE: Aberdeen oil services firm bought by sector heavyweight
North Star has around 1,400 employees. The deal is not expected to result in job losses at the firm.
Basalt acquired North Star from Aberdeen-based Craig Group in 2017.
Partners Group has European headquarters in Switzerland and is listed on the country’s stock exchange.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel