MEYER WERFT is establishing the organizational and legal framework for the successful development of its offshore converter business. To this end, all activities in this new business segment of the Group will be consolidated in the coming weeks into a separate company, NEPTUN Offshore GmbH & Co. KG. This company will also hold the 50 percent stake in the Rostock-based joint venture NEPTUN SMULDERS Offshore Renewables (NSORe).
With the contract awarded this year by the grid operator 50Hertz for the construction of two converter platforms in the North Sea (LanWin3 and LanWin6), NSORe has successfully entered the promising converter market. The total order volume for NSORe's share of the two projects amounts to approximately USD$2.78 billion (€2.5 billion), a large portion of which will be used for production and services in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, particularly at the NEPTUN WERFT shipyard.
However, converter construction has different technical and regulatory requirements than shipbuilding. These differences relate, for example, to the materials required, lead times, testing and IT systems, as well as the financing structure.
NEPTUN Offshore GmbH & Co. KG will be a wholly owned subsidiary of MEYER WERFT GmbH. Malte Poelmann, who, along with Dieter Weyns, is already Managing Director of NSORe, will be CEO.
The restructuring will have no impact on the added value generated at the Rostock site through the development of the converter business. MEYER WERFT continues to expect that the first two orders from 50Hertz alone will create up to 1,000 new jobs in the region, both directly and indirectly.