What is going to happen to Adwen? The offshore specialist company is getting in the way of Siemens' and Gamesa's merger plans. GE has now expressed interest in the joint venture between Gamesa and Areva.
It's complicated: Siemens wants to merge its wind power division with its Spanish competitor Gamesa. This would turn the group into the world's largest manufacturer of wind turbines. According to press reports, Siemens is not interested in Adwen, the joint venture between Gamesa and the French company Areva. This is probably because Adwen is specialised in offshore installations, and this is an area where Siemens already dominates the market.
As Handelsblatt now reports, the competitor GE has expressed interest in Adwen. "Our goal is to become one of the big three in offshore wind power", the paper quoted the head of GE Renewable Energy Jerome Pecresse. GE could imagine acquiring Adwen but has not had any discussions on this subject yet.
Last year, GE acquired Alstom's energy division, which Siemens had also shown interest in. It was transformed into the renewables division, which has its headquarters in Paris. According to Handelsblatt, GE has a global market share of more than 20% in the onshore wind turbine sector. However, the US corporation supplies almost no equipment to wind farms off the coast.
OWI