Areva, Gamesa seal deal on offshore wind JV with 2.8 GW pipeline

Jul 7, 2014 - French nuclear group Areva (EPA:AREVA) and Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa (MCE:GAM) said today they had inked a deal to combine their offshore wind businesses in a 50/50 joint venture (JV) with a 2.8 GW project pipeline.

The new company’s goal will be to secure a market share of nearly 20% in Europe by 2020 by combining the two companies' operations and know-how in the offshore segment.

Under the terms of the agreement, Gamesa will transfer a roughly EUR 195 million (USD 265m) worth of assets to the JV, including its 5-MW offshore platform and access to its supply chain as well as technology licences and 20 GW of onshore capacity under maintenance.

At the same time, Areva will contribute its own 5 MW and 8 MW offshore platforms as well as its current pipeline of 2.8 GW that includes projects in Germany, France and the UK. Furthermore, the French company will transfer its industrial and logistics centres in Germany. These assets are valued at about EUR 280 million in total, including an estimated working capital of EUR 70 million.

Another provision of the deal calls for Gamesa to act as the preferred supplier of parts to the joint entity. The partners noted that the JV will be making use of the recently won 1-GW pipeline in France’s offshore round 2.

The new firm will be registered in Spain, but will have its executive committee based in Paris. Arnaud Bellanger, currently executive vice president of offshore wind at Areva, will act as the JV’s general manager.

The parties expect to complete the transaction by the final quarter of the year, once they receive the needed clearance by the French state, the European and other competition authorities. Areva and Gamesa began exclusive talks on the venture in January.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.360)

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