Natural Power acquire stake in SeaRoc Group

Leading international renewable energy consultancy, Natural Power, have acquired a 25% stake in marine, engineering and offshore specialists, SeaRoc, following almost twelve months successful operation under a framework agreement offering combined expertise to the renewable energy sector.

Stuart Hall, Director and founder of Natural Power now also sits on the SeaRoc board and noted : “We are delighted that the agreement has worked so well to date. Acquiring a stake in this successful business is a natural step forward for us which will help bring our two organisations closer together over time.”

SeaRoc are heavily involved in a large number of offshore projects in the UK and further afield as well as being actively involved with developing guidelines and standards for the industry engaging with both government and industry bodies. Their growing team of mariners and engineers has extensive experience of the complete marine project lifecycle allowing them to offer clients a wide range of services focused on delivering offshore renewable projects safely and efficiently. Natural Power’s experience ranges from 15,000MW of site identification and portfolio appraisals (including securing over 1,200MW of offshore wind farm consents on behalf of their clients) through to operating more than 10% of the UK’s installed capacity for utilities and independent power producers. Their current offshore project involvement ranges from technical, development and asset management services on Round 1, 2 and 3 sites in the UK for a number of clients, to the provision of ZephIR laser anemometers for offshore wind data collection in Europe and North America.

Natural Power have also been involved in assisting clients in preparing tenders for The Crown Estate’s Pentland Firth marine energy tender process, including the provision of high-resolution wave and tidal energy resource mapping, analysis and array design services.

Peter Hodgetts, Chief Executive of SeaRoc, welcomed the partnership : “With the benefits of our joint experience in both in offshore and onshore projects we believe we can deliver real benefits to customers with innovative and robust solutions. The synergies between our companies naturally complement each other’s well established skills and product developments. We are confident that the relationship will provide an integrated range of services through the project life cycle.

Natural Power and SeaRoc are co-sponsoring this year’s BWEA Offshore event in June where they will announce forthcoming new products and services.

SeaRoc join 10MW vertical-axis offshore wind turbine project

SeaRoc have joined the VertAx Wind Limited Project Team where they will play a vital role in designing the deployment of its vertical axis 10 MW offshore wind turbine generator.

SeaRoc will develop safe and reliable methods of installing this multi-megawatt machine in the marine environments of the United Kingdom, Europe and elsewhere and with its wealth of offshore operational experience will ensure practical and safe methods of installation of this very large wind turbine generator.

“VertAx is an exciting opportunity for SeaRoc to bring its expertise and experience to meet the unique challenges of the offshore environment and contribute to delivering on the targets for offshore wind,” said Peter Hodgetts, Chief Executive of the SeaRoc Group. “VertAx has assembled an outstanding team, its plans are unique and the proposed turbine represents a very real opportunity to develop a significant UK player in the offshore wind industry”

“VertAx is extremely pleased to have SeaRoc as members of our project development team,” said Peter Hunter, VertAx’ Chairman. “They join a group of world class experts working on this engineering development who include electricty generation specialists coverteam, blade developers Slinsby Composites and structural designers Gifford."