Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation has acquired an equity stake in EEW Offshore Wind Holding to enhance its monopile manufacturing capabilities.
This strategic partnership brings together Sumitomo's extensive expertise in the international steel market with EEW's specialised focus on offshore wind energy infrastructure.
Sumitomo Corporation steel products SBU [secondary building units] general manager Takuro Horikoshi stated: “We are excited to partner with EEW, enhancing our role in the offshore wind market.
“This investment aligns with our commitment to contributing to green transformation and global shift to renewable energy.”
EEW Offshore Wind Holding, a German family-run business, has been restructured into three new holding companies to better organise its group activities according to business segments.
The monopile production at Rostock (EEW SPC) and the associated mechanical engineering activities at AWS Schäfer in Siegen, Germany, are now under the umbrella of EEW Offshore Wind Holding.
The newly established EEW Management Services will absorb the services previously offered by EEW Holding, aligning with the new divisional structure.
The additional two holding companies, EEW Pipe Solutions Holding and EEW AOS Holding, will manage the group's other business areas and locations.
Despite the changes, the existing management team of the group will continue to lead the operations.
EEW Holding is set to transition into a purely asset-managing entity, renaming itself to DiScho Vermögensverwaltung, and will cease to provide services or act as a parent company.
The partnership with Sumitomo, which employs 80,000 people across 65 countries, signifies a confident step towards addressing future challenges in the offshore wind sector.
EEW assured its customers that the quality of large-scale monopile projects will remain consistent and reliable.
Sumitomo's investment in EEW Group is a result of a long-standing business relationship, and the completion of this transaction is pending approval from relevant EU authorities.
EEW Group managing partner Christoph Schorge stated: “In order to continue to secure our position as global market leader, to continue to enable healthy growth and to be able to draw on sufficient resources to successfully handle large-scale projects, we, the owner families of Schorge and Dietze, have decided to bring a trusted strategic partner on board for this division.”
In August 2024, JGC Japan Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation decided to consider a possible joint venture in the area of floating offshore wind power generation.
