Former Subsea 7 boss John Smith has taken a stake in north-east firm Enventi and also joined its board as it strives to make offshore windfarms cheaper to run.
The engineering and consultancy company would not reveal the size of Mr Smith’s shareholding, but said he brought a wealth of experience, having previously held several senior management roles.
Principal shareholders and directors at the Westhill firm include Paul Lavelle, who founded and then sold energy service company Tekmar, Scott Macknocher and now Mr Smith. As well as being chief executive of global subsea contractor Subsea 7 from its formation until 2004, Mr Smith led Australian engineering, procurement and construction contractor Clough to a successful turnaround.
The chartered mechanical engineer has 30 years of offshore construction experience from bases in the UK, Norway and Australia, and was recently appointed executive vice-chairman of the Singapore-based OIG Offshore Installation Group. He is also a former president of the International Marine Contractors Association.
His appointment comes as Enventi, which employs up to 10 people, including consultants, between offices at Westhill and Cheltenham, seeks a floating solution to UK Government cost targets for offshore wind energy.
Mr Smith said “Momentum is gathering in offshore wind energy generation but costs need to come down to ensure a sustainable industry.”
Enventi hopes its work will lead to a “fully-integrated, life-cycle design” of an offshore windfarm capable of delivering electricity to the national grid at a cost of around £100 per megawatt hour (MWh).
The project springs from government electricity market reform proposals highlighting the key role that offshore wind can play in future energy policy.
But Westminster wants to see a substantial reduction in the cost of energy from today’s level of around £175 for each MWh of power produced to £100 by 2020. Meanwhile, first-quarter results from Norwegian oil field engineering firm Subsea 7 yesterday showed adjusted earnings – before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation – of £140million, up from £118million a year earlier.
Subsea 7, which has its UK headquarters at Westhill, said its order book was growing and prospects were encouraging in most markets.
Increasing demand in the North Sea and US Gulf of Mexico was tempered by lower activity offshore Africa, it added. Revenue in the latest period was £907.5million, up from £804.1million previously.
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