UK offshore wind pioneer buys two subsea services providers

UK offshore wind pioneer Venterra Group is acquiring two compatriot companies as part of its goal to build a service offering across the wind farm lifecycle, including engineer, build and support services.

Venterra revealed it is buying Balltec, a provider of high-integrity connectors for subsea and marine engineering in the renewable energy sector, and Partrac, a provider of metocean and seabed measurement, analysis and critical advice for the offshore wind industry.

Based in Lancashire, Balltec designs, manufactures and tests high-integrity mechanical connectors for critical applications in the renewable energy and oil & gas sectors.

The company provides products for cable protection, mooring, pipelines and heavy lifting and is a supplier of engineered systems for challenging projects, from concept to commissioning, Venterra said.

Balltec will complement the services offered by Venterra’s member company Osbit.

“Balltec brings deep technical expertise and a history of innovation that fits our ethos of bringing the best marine engineering into the offshore wind industry. Balltec will partner with Osbit our bespoke equipment provider to offshore wind and together they will support the ‘Build’ phase of our growing range of services,” said Rob Jewkes, Venterra’s CEO.

Partrac, founded in 2003, is a metocean and seabed consultancy, servicing clients in the offshore wind, ports and marine construction sectors.

From offices in Newcastle, Glasgow and Devon, Partrac designs and implements metocean surveys, which include offshore wind resource measurement programs as well as interpretation of metocean and seabed data to support the consenting and engineering design stages of offshore wind farms and their associated cable routes.

“Partrac has a highly differentiated metocean consultancy offering, focused primarily on the offshore wind and marine renewables sectors. They have been involved with pioneering projects, including the world’s first floating wind farm, delivering vital metocean data, wind resource assessments and critical advice. As a member of Venterra, Partrac will continue to work on these ground-breaking projects and accelerate its growth as part of the wider offering,” Jewkes added.

Venterra was established in 2021 by former Petrofac CEO Ayman Asfari and colleagues.

These two acquisitions come after the offshore wind pioneer bought Ordtek, the UK-based provider of unexploded ordnance (UXO) risk management consultancy, a few months ago.

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