Havfram chief executive Ingrid Due-Gundersen said fast growth in offshore wind makes building turbine instalation vessels essential (source: Havfram)
Norway-based Havfram has secured what it describes as “a transformative investment” from Sandbrook Capital, a private investment firm dedicated to building climate infrastructure companies
As part of the transaction, Sandbrook has committed US$250M in equity capital to Havfram. The new capital, which will result in Havfram being one of the best capitalized companies in the sector, will be used to help build a fleet wind turbine installation vessels and to further Havfram’s broader plan to become a leading provider of services to the offshore wind industry.
As part of the transaction, Havfram’s subsea activity will be separated into an independent company which will be wholly-owned by Norwegian private investment firm HitecVision, who will remain as a minority shareholder in Havfram.
“To enable the pace of growth required in the offshore wind industry requires significant investment in the global supply chain, and in particular, in next-generation wind turbine installation vessels,” said Havfram.
Havfram chief executive Ingrid Due-Gundersen said, “We are excited about the opportunity to build a world-class offshore wind business and unlock a key bottleneck in the development of clean power generation.
“Sandbrook’s principals are among the most experienced investors in renewable energy and in offshore wind installation in particular. Their capital and expertise, combined with the strong operational track record of our team, will be hugely advantageous to our goal of becoming the leading player supporting the growth of the offshore wind industry globally.”
Sandbrook Capital co-founder and partner Alfredo Marti said, “We believe that large-scale growth in offshore wind is a fundamental to increasing the penetration of clean electricity globally.
“Critical to that growth is the creation of a strong supply chain. By partnering with Havfram’s experienced team, we believe we are ideally placed to advance that goal and we look forward to helping them build a great company.”
HitecVision senior partner Tor Espedal said, “We are pleased to have completed this important step in the strategic transformation of Havfram.
“With the new capital injection from Sandbrook Havfram is poised to become the leading player in the global offshore wind supply chain that we set out to build three years ago.”
Havfram’s board of directors will be chaired by Andreas Nauen, who previously served as chief executive of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, one of the largest wind turbine manufacturers in the world.
