LOC Renewables, a part of LOC Group, the leading international marine and engineering consultancy, has announced it has acquired a 70% stake in INNOSEA, a marine energy engineering company. The acquisition will see LOC Group build out its planning and design services to the offshore wind industry. 

INNOSEA was founded in 2012, a spin-off company from Centrale de Nantes maritime & offshore engineering research department, and is based in Nantes, France. The company has world-class expertise in engineering and modelling for the marine environment, particularly in the areas of offshore structures & turbine engineering for fixed and floating substructures. 

With a team of 25, the company offers a range of services to comprehensively support the development cycle of marine renewable technologies and projects, from concept studies and detailed engineering, to basin and sea trials, surveys and certification support. 

INNOSEA's main areas of expertise include the design of fixed and floating substructures for the offshore wind, with all related hydrodynamic, metocean, structural, aeroelastic analyses. INNOSEA owns several expert software tools such as PREDIN, a dedicated offshore wind foundation integrated basic design commercial software. INNOSEA is also expert in moorings, cable protection and cable analyses, especially for the floating wind market.

Combined, LOC Renewables and INNOSEA will offer an increasingly comprehensive array of services to support the offshore wind sector, ranging from the planning and permitting stages through to operation and maintenance of the completed farm.

INNOSEA will lead on services including site-specific wind turbine modelling, fixed and floating substructure design or package management and site surveys and investigations. Later on in the development cycle, LOC Renewables will take responsibility for services including Marine Warranty Surveys (MWS) during the transport and installation phases, cable installation and, in terms of long-term O&M management, vessel SIA/SSA and logistics design.

R.V. Ahilan, Joint Group Chief Executive of LOC, said: "Separately, LOC Renewables and INNOSEA have provided a range of comprehensive services to our clients working in the offshore renewables markets for many years." 

"By acquiring INNOSEA, we are able to consolidate this offering 'under one roof', streamlining the process for our customers and furthering our strategy of ambitious growth in the renewables market. This acquisition, coming hard on the heels of our recent initiatives in geoscience and turbine engineering, enables LOC Renewables to provide a comprehensive capability, not only for complete early wind farm development but also for the integrated design that is so crucial to reducing costs in the sector."

Hakim Mouslim, joint founder of INNOSEA, added: "This acquisition offers an exciting opportunity for both of our companies to accelerate our growth in the market, allowing us to extend the services we provide to our Clients and to deliver these globally together with LOC Renewables. In turn, our expertise and leadership in the early stages of project development will complement LOC's existing offering."

LOC Renewables | loc-group.com