The APG, TRIG-owned operator of Germany’s 396MW Merkur offshore wind farm is to target developers in European markets to expand its consultancy business.
Merkur MD Arjen Schampers said securing the additional work by providing project management and technical services to less experienced players would allow the Hamburg-based company to grow from 25 to 40 staff and redeploy expertise acquired since the commissioning of the 66-turbine North Sea array in 2019.
Merkur has already worked with clients in emerging markets including Dominion Wind for the 2.6GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind and Hitachi for TPC’s 109.2MW Changhua Phase 1 wind farm off Taiwan since first diversifying into consultancy work in 2020.
However, stretching end-decade deployment targets and a steep rise in new entrants has created more opportunities closer to home where Merkur hopes to achieve a 50:50 split in engagement of employees between consultancy activities and wind farm operations, according to Schampers.
He said: “There are a lot of new parties stepping into the industry, there are a lot of wind farms being built and they are sometimes being treated as a commodity.
“In the Netherlands and Germany, we are seeing more inexperienced players at a time when the management of wind farms is becoming increasingly difficult with more multi-contracting and risk being pushed back to developers.”
Fellow MD Lena Buesing added: “It is about knowing the ins and outs of a project and how the CAPEX needs earning back. As a wind farm operator, we have experienced that learning curve and already know the pitfalls and the long-term impacts of decisions made at an early stage.”