Balfour Beatty and Aker Solutions have signed a memorandum of understanding to design and construct the concrete floating and gravity-based structures for the UK offshore wind industry.

The two companies have established a joint taskforce with personnel from both organisations responsible for identifying opportunities.

Balfour Beatty brings the UK infrastructure and energy experience and relationships; Aker has specific experience of building concrete structures for marine environments.

Stephen Tarr, chief executive of Balfour Beatty’s Major Projects business, said: “We are delighted to partner with Aker Solutions to respond to this requirement for increased offshore generation. This builds on decades of experience of constructing complex structures, most recently demonstrated by the production of large marine concrete components for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.”

Jason Brown, Aker Solutions’ head of renewables in the UK, said: “Offshore wind has a pivotal role to play in increasing our use of renewable energy, which in turn is essential to achieving energy security and reducing carbon emissions. Only by moving further out to sea in deeper waters, can we achieve the UK’s ambitious 50GW target for offshore wind deployment.

“Concrete floating and gravity-based foundations are an excellent solution for offshore wind in the North Sea. They provide the level of performance needed in challenging sea conditions, demand high levels of local content and can be less carbon intensive than other go-to foundation solutions.”

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