SeaEnergy hires Ernst & Young to coordinate SERL sale

SeaEnergy (LON:SEA) has hired Ernst & Young’s Renewable Energy arm  as an adviser to coordinate the sale of its 80%-interest in the SeaEnergy Renewables Limited (SERL) subsidiary. Also the company announced that its board member Joel Staadecker is stepping down with immediate effect to focus on his role as SERL CEO.

Earlier this month, in its final results statement, SeaEnergy announced plans to re-focus its business to concentrate on marine services for the offshore wind power industry, after an assessment of the equity markets, investor sentiment and the funding environment.

"In an equity market which does not yet appreciate the huge opportunities afforded by offshore wind, we have chosen to create our own equity for future investments in the sector by crystallising the value we have created in our SERL subsidiary," SeaEnergy MD Steven Bertram commented.
According to SeaEnergy, the SERL business provides a unique growth platform in the offshore wind sector, with an experienced management team and net interests of 781MW, in three separate offshore wind farm sites in the UK and the potential for a further 425MW in the Far East.

SERL has partnerships with EDPR, SSE and Taiwan Generations Corp.

SeaEnergy has conducted a review of opportunities for its marine service business, and a detailed feasibility assessment into the best prospects is close to completion. According to SeaEnergy, this new business direction builds on the company’s experience in the oil & gas industry and "specific lessons learned" while constructing the Beatrice Demonstrator turbines.

Yesterday, the company reported the signing of a letter of intent (LOI) with Norwegian shipbuilder Ulstein Group, to co-develop new service vessels for the offshore wind-power industry. The company highlighted that as the offshore wind industry moves further away from the coastline, new strategies are required to make the offshore wind-farms more cost-effective.

The companies have been working together over the last months to develop a design that will “excel in operational characteristics”. According to SeaEnergy, by signing the LOI both companies want to tighten their relationship and underline that this will be a first step in jointly realizing the needs of the industry.

SeaEnergy seeks to design vessels which can perform both the commissioning and maintenance works of wind turbines. Based on the proven Ulstein X-bow technology, two vessel designs are currently being developed in which operational and vessel systems will be fully integrated with each other.

"The currently available units in this industry have shortcomings with respect to mobility, flexibility and operational window, which will have an even bigger impact when going further away from safe havens," SeaEnergy’s Mike Comerford commented.

“In our philosophy the vessels have to be more versatile and offer greater crew comfort, so they can stay longer offshore instead of sailing back and forth into port every day. In Ulstein we have found a partner that is able to translate our requirements into a competitive design."