Renewables safety joint venture launched
Cosalt's company secretary Neil Carrick, managing director of Cosalt's renewables business Winston Phillips and Henrik Moeller-Jensen and Lauge Fredhave, the joint owners of APRO, shake hands after the deal was signed.
UK based safety equipment supplier Cosalt has signed a new joint venture agreement with Danish engineering services company APRO to take advantage of the major growth expected in UK offshore wind energy.
Cosalt recently set up a dedicated Renewable Energy division to supply inspection and testing services plus marine safety, lifting equipment, tooling and height safety products to the renewables sector, particularly offshore wind farms. It also provides legislative compliance support, quality assurance and health & safety competency services through its Cosalt Compliance team.
This specialist product offering combines well with APRO's engineering expertise and long standing customer relationships in the wind energy market. Established in 1998, APRO has an excellent reputation for installing and servicing onshore and offshore wind turbines. It has contracts with many of the world's major wind turbine manufacturers, including Vestas and Siemens. Given the huge potential growth in the UK offshore wind market, APRO is keen to replicate the success it has achieved in Denmark.
Cosalt, with its branches located in close proximity to the UK and mainland Europe's key wind turbine development sites, is well placed to service the offshore wind sector as more investment comes on-stream. The company has 11 UK operational bases many of which, such as Grimsby, Newcastle, Lowestoft, Edinburgh, Southampton and Birkenhead, offer immediate access to the wind farms being built off the UK coastline. In the Humber area alone the forecast is for an additional 5,000 wind turbines to be in operation by 2020.
The joint venture with APRO will be known as Cosalt Wind Energy and will sit under Cosalt's Renewables division. Based in Cosalt's new head office in Grimsby, the venture will be headed up by Winston Phillips, managing director of Cosalt's Renewables business. Joining him on the Board of Directors of Cosalt Wind Energy Ltd will be Lauge Fredhave and Henrik Moeller-Jensen, the joint owners of APRO.
Mark Lejman, CEO of Cosalt said, ‘Today’s announcement follows on from our declared intention in our interim results statement to pursue opportunities in the renewable energy sector. This joint venture with APRO is an important step towards realising our objective of developing a major renewables business in the UK and Europe. Together we can deliver a complete package of safety, engineering and inspection services to the wind energy market.’
Winston Phillips added, ‘Over the next few months we will be strengthening our dedicated operations and customer service team in Grimsby as well as looking to recruit additional service engineers. APRO has a great deal of experience in this area and their recruitment and training skills will prove invaluable. We are also setting up an apprenticeship scheme so that we can develop a large and highly skilled workforce that will grow with us as we take on more business.’
APRO CEO Henrik Moeller-Jensen concluded, ‘We have worked in the wind energy sector for many years and we know how to recruit, train and manage a large workforce of qualified wind turbine engineers. The formation of Cosalt Wind Energy means we can now back this up with all the products and services required to operate safely and effectively in a hostile offshore environment.’
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