Ocergy’s offshore floating wind solutions attract Series A equity funding

U.S.-based Ocergy announced it has secured investments from Moreld Ocean Wind (MOW) and Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV) to fund offshore floating wind solutions.

The Series A round will fund Ocergy’s commercialization of its offshore floating wind solutions, the OCG-Wind Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) technology and OCG-Data environmental monitoring buoy. Successful close of this round validates the industry’s potential to grow offshore renewable energy, the company said in a statement.

Ocergy’s low-cost floating offshore wind turbine foundation has the potential to meet local supply chain and industrialization requirements with clear value, and the OCG-Data buoy technology enables integrated environmental data gathering and support for biodiversity, the statement added.

CTV has a 22-year history of investing in startups across a wide cross-section of energy innovation and a track record of collaboration to bring innovation to scale.

The Ocergy investment is made from CTV’s Future Energy Fund, which identifies technology solutions needed for the energy transition, including industrial decarbonization, emerging mobility and energy decentralization.

“Offshore wind power is undergoing a period of rapid innovation in an effort to provide lower-carbon energy at a substantial scale,” said Barbara Burger, vice president for innovation and president of technology ventures at Chevron. “Ocergy has developed technology that could be part of the solution to enable more affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy in a marine environment.”

Dominique Roddier, Ocergy chief executive officer, commented: “With MOW onboard we gain a trusted partner who will be able to provide an EPCI solution for OCG-Wind, a key requirement for many of our clients. We are excited to have gained Chevron’s investment and look forward to potential opportunities for their guidance and expertise executing some of the most complex offshore projects in the world.”

Spearheading knowledge in the offshore floating wind market

In addition to the funding announcement, Moreld reported the formation of MOW, a company focused on the delivery of engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contracts in the floating offshore wind industry.

The Moreld Group is already a well-established player in the offshore floating wind space, with leading competencies within FEED, marine services and product solutions. Moreld is owned by funds managed by HitecVision, a leading private equity investor in the European energy industry specializing in investments in renewable energy.

MOW has recently hired industry veteran Kristian Ravn to serve as the company’s CEO. Ravn has held multiple C-level management positions in companies executing both green and brownfield projects.

“MOW will be the spearhead of our combined knowledge within the Moreld group of companies,” said MOW Ravn. “MOW will bring project execution and technical expertise to fully integrated and dedicated EPCI project teams to execute swiftly and flawlessly our EPCI contracts. Supported by our parent- and fellow subsidiary companies, MOW will be able to work with developers to ensure projects are delivered on schedule and on budget.”

This investment positions Ocergy as a potential leader in advancing floating offshore wind to successfully compete for gigawatt-scale commercial projects. The Cooperation Agreement signed between Ocergy and MOW provides a strong platform for executing commercial-scale projects for Ocergy’s OCG-Wind solution worldwide. This partnership integrates one of the most promising low-cost FOWT technologies with the necessary EPCI leadership to develop a fully industrialized FOWT supply chain in all regions of the globe.

“Closing this investment in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the importance for our industry in bringing innovative solutions to further lower the Floating Offshore Wind levelized cost of energy, while focusing on local supply chain and industrialization requirements,” said Roddier.


Source: Renewable Energy