The shareholders of Mainstream Renewable Power and Aker Offshore Wind, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the investment company Aker Horizons, have agreed to merge the two companies to create a robust 27 GW renewable energy portfolio.

The portfolio expands across solar, onshore wind, and bottom-fixed and floating offshore wind projects.

Aker Horizons entered into an agreement with Aker Mainstream Renewables, a holding company co-owned by Aker Horizons, Mitsui & Co., Ltd., and Irish minority shareholders, to integrate Aker Offshore Wind into the Mainstream Group. This will bring Aker Horizons’ ownership in Mainstream to approximately 58.6%.

The plan is to combine Aker Offshore Wind’s strong technical and engineering capabilities and early mover position in floating offshore wind with Mainstream’s proven project development methodology, execution track record, and global presence to unlock new opportunities worldwide.

“The strong industrial logic for combining Aker Offshore Wind and Mainstream includes complementary footprint and capabilities, increased scale, and improved access to financing,” said Mary Quaney, Chief Executive Officer of Mainstream.

The company noted that the floating wind market is projected to grow rapidly in the coming years, as several countries have launched ambitious targets to develop gigawatts of wind energy, with about 70-80% of offshore wind resources located at water depths only suitable for floating foundations.

The consolidation of Aker Horizons’ interests in renewable energy is expected to accelerate Mainstream’s transformation into a global renewable energy major with leading floating and fixed offshore wind capabilities.

“Accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, including deep-water offshore wind, is essential to reaching Net Zero in 2050. According to IEA estimates, annual solar PV and wind power additions in excess of 1,000 gigawatts are required by 2030. Mainstream will drive the transition toward a clean energy sector, with ongoing projects on five continents,” said Kristian Røkke, Chief Executive Officer of Aker Horizons and Chairman of Mainstream.

Mainstream’s offshore business will continue developing existing projects for fixed and floating wind in markets such as Norway, Sweden, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Ireland, the UK, and the U.S. while exploring new markets.

An Extraordinary General Meeting held by Aker Mainstream Renewables is expected to approve the transaction and close it in August 2022.

Aker Horizons acquired Mainstream Renewable Power in May 2021.

Globally, the offshore wind industry enjoyed its best-ever year in 2021, with 21.1 GW of new capacity connected to the grid, according to the latest Global Offshore Wind Report by GWEC. Its market intelligence has identified over 700GW of offshore wind projects, of which 120GW is floating wind.