Marmen Welcon has formed a strategic alliance with Smulders to manufacture transition pieces for the US offshore wind market at the Port of Albany, New York.
This agreement accelerates the growth of the US offshore wind supply chain by bringing Smulders’s expertise to the highly automated Marmen Welcon facility, soon to be built at the largest inland port in the Northeastern US, the companies said.
Transition pieces, made up of heavy steel fabrication, are the lower support structures beneath offshore wind towers that connect the tower to the foundation.
The strategic alliance with Smulders supports the facility, the largest offshore wind investment in the US, which was announced earlier this year by Marmen and Welcon, in partnership with the Port of Albany and Equinor.
Marmen Welcon, in conjunction with Smulders, will be the first to manufacture offshore wind towers and transition pieces in the United States, at the Port of Albany facility, it said.
The port development is scheduled to begin later in 2021, and offshore wind towers are scheduled to begin production at the end of 2023.
Marmen President Patrick Pellerin said: “Smulders is clearly the right partner for Marmen Welcon with its track record of over 2,000 transition pieces manufactured at its facilities located in Europe.
“The strategic partnership will allow for knowledge transfer and enhance our manufacturing capabilities for transition piece production in our future Port of Albany facility.”
Welcon chairman Carsten Pedersen added: “With this announcement, offshore wind developers now have the opportunity to source all of their large steel-fabricated components (foundations, transition pieces and towers) in the US, thanks to our new facility.”
Smulders managing director Raf Iemants said: “With already more than 20 years of offshore wind experience in the European market, we are looking forward to sharing our expertise in the manufacturing of transition pieces with Marmen Welcon and contribute to the development of a sustainable supply chain for the upcoming US offshore wind market.”