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1 The Sif Group and its Futuristic Focus The Sif Group specializes in producing tubular structures for almost any offshore application. The company was founded in 1948 and primarily served the Oil and Gas industry until the rise of wind energy altered the face of offshore industry. Today, the Sif Group is best known for its monopile foundations and transition pieces which can be obtained as a finished product, ready for installation. However, calls for cost efficiency, and solutions for deeper waters and larger wind turbines are driving demand for ever larger and heavier monopiles. These often have a diameter of more than seven metres, are often over 75 metres long and weigh over 1000 tonnes. Sif s new Maasvlakte facility at the Port of Rotterdam expands its capacity to manufacture these extra-large monopiles, supporting the production of components with diameters of up to 11 metres, lengths of 120 metres and weights of up to 2,000 tonnes. InDepth WIND spoke to Mr Michel Kurstjens, CCO of the Sif Group to find out more about the Sif Group s role in the offshore wind industry and its plans for the future. 68 issue

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3 Markets have changed and are still changing When the Sif Group first exerted its energies When the Sif Group first exerted its energies on behalf of offshore industries, the oil industry was its primary customer. Wind has done more than just add an industry to its portfolio: Our business is 80 percent wind and 20 percent oil and gas, explains Mr. Kurstjens, It s not a matter of oil and gas business decreasing. Instead, the rapid growth in the offshore wind energy market is directly responsible for this shift. However, the offshore wind energy industry itself is in a state of change, and Sif has not limited itself to monopiles. It also supplies tubular structures for the new concept, floating wind turbines that are showing so much promise for the future. At Sif, we believe that the challenge for the offshore wind energy industry is to become as cost competitive as possible. We want to play a role in the search for ways to cut costs in floating wind as we have done in the past with fixed foundations, says Kurstjens. Our core competence lies in making tubular components for offshore wind. We have seen that we can provide tubulars for yards that produce floating platforms. We will not be engaged in one exclusive floating design. Instead, we will supply the yards that will build floating foundations with tubular components. Mr. Kurstjens says that he foresees fierce competition between classic shipyards and firms who have previously fabricated monopiles. Who will ultimately be the most competitive? We will see, says Mr. Kurstjens. However, Mr Kurstjens still sees the future of the Sif Group in monopiles while supporting the concept of floating wind farms. Commenting on TenneT s concept plan for modular energy islands he remarks: I think it s a very creative idea and I think that by creating floating islands, we would be able to concentrate all the windfarm activities and infrastructure while increasing the distance from shore. Therefore, it will lower the cost of offshore wind, and thus benefit the offshore wind energy industry as a whole including wind farms using monopiles. 70 issue

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5 Lessons learned in oil and gas give Sif a competitive edge Elaborating the ways in which the Sif Group s history has led to its wind energy success, Mr. Kurstjens paints a clear picture: We entered the oil and gas industry in the seventies before the wind energy market developed. The lessons we learned in oil and gas have made us competitive in the wind energy industry. For example, health and safety requirements in oil and gas industry are as stringent as for wind. If you are entering the wind energy market from a different industry, meeting these requirements and maintaining these standards would be more difficult. Delivering quality projects on time with a high level of health and safety is an important part of our work methodology. International Efforts Sif is to explore the opportunities with Sato Tekko in Japan s offshore wind industry. We asked Mr. Kurstjens about the Sif Group s plans for Japan and the Asian market. In Japan, as in any other international market outside Northern European waters, we see that the offshore wind industry is growing. This is also true of the Americas and the Far East in general. As a business, we follow international developments. In Japan, there is a unique situation owing to the lack of a continental shelf. It will be at the forefront of floating wind. Hence, being present in Japan will provide a valuable learning experience. Our interest is twofold: in Japan, we will be close to the latest developments in floating wind farms, but we will also be able to explore the bottom fixed market as we do in all other areas. There are few places where water depths would be suitable for fixed foundations though it is a small market. With this in mind, we have found a local partner in the form of Sato Tekko. The influence of Japan will depend on the speed of growth of the Japanese market. If Japan is slower than its neighbours, it also limits the role of the Japanese supply 72 issue

6 chain and the likelihood of it moving beyond Japan and into the Asian market. Aside from Asia, the Sif Group has plans for the Baltic region. There is still a lot of demand for bottom-fixed foundations. Monopile foundations are likely to remain the best choice for wind farms in the North Sea. The Baltic Sea also has relatively shallow waters suitable for wind farm development, and it is definitely a market for us. New Rotterdam facility keeps Sif ahead of the curve Mr. Kurstjens is pleased with the prospects for the new Sif facility at Rotterdam. Logically, our new site in Rotterdam will concentrate on the North Sea market. We are the company to beat in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK market. Geography plays a role in terms of costs, but logistics will play a bigger role than ever before. Hence we invested in this Rotterdam site, but we won t ignore other opportunities for international expansion, he says. We remain ahead of the market by investing in advance so that we can offer our customer base the solutions of the future. By building the site in Rotterdam, we sent a clear message to the engineering community. Monopiles can be bigger than ever before. If the supply chain waits, the engineering community will not design something new, because of the lack of manufacturing facilities. It has always been Sif s strategy to be part of the future and ahead of it by investing in new technologies. Bigger, better, and more future focussed It seems that the Sif group has big plans for even bigger monopiles and larger turbines than the market currently offers. By building capacity now, it is stimulating the wind energy industry to exploit the cost-saving advantages of larger turbines at a time when competitive pricing is essential to future growth. From the North Sea to Asia and the Baltic, the Sif Group s presence is making wind energy advances possible. We look forward to watching its future progress and the ways in which it will drive wind technology advances from its foundations upwards. issue