X1 Wind wants to change the offshore wind industry. The €4M Horizon 2020 round will enable the development of PivotBuoy, a single-point mooring system platform that can reduce the weight and cost of deployment.
We analyse the wind energy sector to see how the wind energy sector is sales of companies global leader.
Disruptive technology from X1 Wind
Founded in 2017, X1 Wind is a Barcelona-based startup that is innovating in the offshore wind industry. Their goal is clear: to gradually change the offshore wind sector through disruptive technology. As a curiosity, it is worth mentioning that they have won several awards and recognitions from prestigious organisations such as Innoenergy or Singularity University.
They have recently developed a novel single-point mooring system platform called the PivotBuoywhich could significantly reduce the cost of offshore wind energy. For the launch of this platform on 28 March 2019, the following information is available has received EUR 4 million from the investor Horizon 2020. With this funding they can deploy a prototype PivotBuoy at a test site off the coast of the Canary Islands. The project officially started on 1 April and will run for 36 months.
Once tried and tested, PivotBuoy can reduce platform weight by up to 80%, and costs by 50%, which makes floating wind much more competitive, paving the way towards a goal of spending only €50/MWh on commercial-scale wind farms.
Selling companies internationally
We have conducted a survey of the most recent company sales transactions in the wind energy sector. We highlight the following:
1. Kallista Energy Group
Created in 2005, Kallista Energy Group is a independent electricity producer. To ensure the best possible management of market and regulatory constraints and changes, the company relies on the growth in volumes and the geographical and technological diversity of its facilities. Kallista manages and operates its own facilities, which are located in among the leading wind energy operators in France.
On 20 April 2018, the following took place the sale of the company to Boralex for 129 million euros.. For its part, Boralex is an energy producer whose core business is the development of renewable energy power plants.
2. Deepwater Wind
Deepwater Wind is a US offshore wind developer. It was founded in 2005 and since then has continued to develop, build, operate and manage renewable wind energy projects. Its annual revenues are estimated to be around $6.2 million.
Ørsted, Denmark's largest energy company, bought Deepwater Wind on 8 October 2018. The amount of this transaction is unknown, unlike the acquisition of Lincoln Energy Clean, where it paid USD 580 million. These have been Ørsted's only two acquisitions since its founding in 2006. acquisitions of Ørsted since its foundation in 2006.
3. Aeolian Renewables
La madrileña Aeolian Renewables is an independent power producer in the renewable energy sector in Spain. It focuses on the development, construction and operation of onshore wind farms and solar photovoltaic plants.
On 9 November 2018, we learned of the sale of the Spanish company to Alberta Investment Managementone of Canada's largest and most diversified institutional investment fund managers. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.
4. Infinity Renewables
In contrast to the previous companies, Infinity Renewables is a developer of wind and solar energy projects The project is a high quality project to be brought to the market. It covers the entire life cycle of the project and at all times owners and their communities can be mutually involved.
ENGIE North America acquired this company on 20 February 2018, one of its 10 purchases since 2017. The amount of the sale was not disclosed. ENGIE operates in the energy business in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Yushan Energy
Yushan Energy (Taipei, Taiwan) is, like Infinity Renewables, a energy project developerbut which only focuses on the offshore wind energy. The work and effort of the company is based on contributing to the clean, renewable and domestic energy sources.
Its buyer was the Japanese firm Mitsui & Cowhich executed the transaction on 17 May 2018. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.