Saipem, Havfram Holding and HVAS Invest Kappa, a holding company controlled by HitecVision, have signed a non-binding agreement to evaluate a potential collaboration in the development and construction of offshore wind farms.

The parties share the common objective to create a wider value proposition by integrating a range of construction and operational services, based on the parties’ respective competences and expertise.

In this context, the cooperation between the HitecVision-controlled Havfram and Saipem would build upon Havfram’s agile business model and consolidated expertise in installation of offshore facilities on one side, and Saipem’s offshore wind EPCI capabilities, competences and assets on the other side.

The initiative is consistent with Saipem’s 2022-25 Strategic Plan in that it aims at strengthening its value proposition for the offshore wind market identifying new and more profitable ways of execution, organisational and management models, also through the integration of the latest generation installation assets such as jackups.

The agreement also corresponds to Havfram’s objective to accelerate growth in its EPCI and service-oriented offering towards offshore wind.

The parties will set up a joint team to study and develop the technical, organisational, financial and valuation aspects of the possible collaboration, targeting, if the conditions will be met, to reach a detailed definition of the business model and a final agreement by end of third quarter of 2022.

Saipem recently suffered a setback in its construction schedule as its semi-submersible crane vessel, Saipem 7000 was involved in an incident during the planned five-year main cranes load test. To remind, the main block wire broke during the test lifting operation and the testing load (two cargo barges) with the main block were released in the water. The vessel itself developed a list while the barges capsized.

Before the incident, Saipem 7000 was deployed at the Seagreen offshore wind farm, a 1,075MW joint venture project between SSE Renewables (49 percent) and Total (51 percent) off the East coast of Scotland. The scope of work entails the installation of 114 foundations for an equivalent number of wind turbines.