DNV GL Sets Stage for John Laing’s Offshore Wind Debut

DNV GL has completed its due diligence work of the 111MW Nordergründe offshore wind farm in the German North Sea, reviewing and quantifying the technical risks of the project on behalf of the John Laing Group.

John Laing commissioned DNV GL with the assessment and analysis of the project to make its investment decision and has announced its 30% stake acquisition of the wind farm.

Nordergründe is the first offshore wind investment for John Laing, the exchange-listed and internationally active company specialised in infrastructure projects. In addition to John Laing, other shareholders in Nordergründe are wpd AG (30%) and Gothaer Leben Renewables GmbH (40%).

Through DNV GL’s independent technical and planning evaluation, John Laing received a realistic assessment for the shareholding in the offshore project with 18 Senvion 6.2 M126 turbines.

Sue Peart, who is leading in the offshore wind sector for John Laing, said: “At times of high competition in offshore wind projects, working with an experienced partner is crucial to ensure the project success. Given DNV GL’s track record we were confident that they would provide invaluable technical and commercial expertise to carry out the due diligence tasks required. Thanks to their deep understanding of the technical details and by providing commercial guidance for our assessment, the due diligence was delivered on time to an accelerated programme.”

As part of the due diligence, DNV GL took over the review and assessment of approvals, grid connection, development of the wind farm, technology, competence of contract partners and Operation & Maintenance services. To complete the due diligence, DNV GL conducted a risk analysis in which all technical aspects of the project were evaluated. In addition, DNV GL provided an analysis of the best- and worst-case scenarios of the offshore project to the client.

“The integrated due diligence team approach as applied in this project was one of the crucial means to ensure an in-depth assessment of the details in a very short time frame. This involved the close cooperation of the DNV GL team the John Laing’s due diligence team and the legal and financial advisor,” Peter Frohböse, Principal Engineer at DNV GL’s due diligence team, states.

Nordergründe will be delivered and operated by the wpd Group. The construction is expected to be completed in Q2 2017.