Ratos Company Aibel and Hitachi Energy sign framework agreement with RWE to accelerate offshore wind integration

Aibel and Hitachi Energy have signed separate framework agreements with the German company RWE for multiple high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems to accelerate the integration of offshore wind power into grid. The agreement follows the signing of a Capacity Reservation Agreement (CRA) last November that reserves the engineering and production capacity to develop three major HVDC projects. The projects will allow electricity transmission from offshore wind farms to onshore connection points.

Under the global framework agreements, RWE has contracted Aibel and Hitachi Energy in a split contract model. The framework agreement stipulates how the three projects, and potentially additional projects in the future, will be handled. It allows Aibel and Hitachi Energy to manage resources such as securing supply chain, hiring workforce, allocating engineering and manufacturing capacity, and ordering materials ahead of time.

“The success story in Aibel continues at a high and steady pace. It is very pleasing that this contract now is in place. It gives both the opportunity to invest even more in the future and to do so in a sustainable way. The importance of Aibel and its partners in the transition towards a more energy efficient and sustainable future is significant – in this project part of the scale and speed needed to be even more successful are secured,” says Christian Johansson Gebauer, board member of Aibel and President, Business Area Construction & Services, Ratos.

“The agreement with RWE confirms that we have a competitive concept developed in collaboration with Hitachi Energy, and a reliable common delivery model with a balanced risk-reward profile. The capacity reservation provides predictability and further strengthens our position as a leading supplier to the offshore wind market,” says Mads Andersen, President and CEO of Aibel.

Securing the capacity early and the signing of CRA demonstrates RWE's intent to accelerate the pace at which offshore energy can be integrated to the grids. The new framework agreement has the potential to deliver other possible projects worldwide.

The three projects are the latest of several jointly undertaken by Aibel and Hitachi Energy since the two companies announced their strategic partnership in 2016. Key offshore wind projects won by the two companies include converter stations for Dogger Bank A, B, and C and Hornsea 3 Link 1 and Link 2 in the UK, as well as Dolwin 5 in Germany.

About Aibel
Aibel builds and maintains critical infrastructure for the energy sector and is one of the largest supplier companies in Norway. In the last five years, the company has provided products and services worth NOK 50 billion to the Norwegian Continental Shelf and is also the largest supplier of solutions within the area of electrification of offshore installations and onshore facilities. Currently, Aibel has five deliveries to offshore wind parks in Germany and the UK sector with a total contract value of more than NOK 15 billion and is the largest Norwegian supplier of infrastructure for the offshore wind industry. More than 4,950 employees work at the company’s offices in Norway, Thailand and Singapore and the company owns modern offshore yards in Haugesund, Norway, and Laem Chabang and Map Ta Phut, Thailand, with significant prefabrication and construction capacity. The Ratos holding in Aibel is 32%.

For more information, please contact:
Josefine Uppling, VP Communication, Ratos, +46 76 114 54 21

About Ratos
Ratos is a Swedish business group focusing on technological and infrastructure solutions, consisting of 17 companies divided into three business areas: Construction & Services, Industry and Consumer. The companies have approximately SEK 34 billion in net sales (LTM). We have a distinct corporate culture and strategy – everything we do is based on our core values: Simplicity, Speed in execution and It’s All About People. We enable independent subsidiaries to excel by being part of something larger. People, leadership, culture and values are key focus areas.