Edda Wind Gearing Up for Growth in Wind Farm Support Market

Edda Wind ASA has ordered an additional four wind farm support vessels at Vard at a cost of EUR 63 million apiece.

Headquartered in Norway, Edda Wind is the leading pure-play provider of Service Operation Vessels (SOV) and Commissioning Service Operation vessels (CSOV) to the offshore wind industry. The addition of the four-vessel order brings its newbuild orderbook to twelve CSOV/SOVs, five of which are expected to deliver in 2023, representing a total investment of more than EUR 540 million to date.

The four vessels will be built at Vard’s yards in Norway and Vietnam with “attractive” deliveries in 2025 and early 2026. The order also includes two options for two additional vessels each, or four total.

Gearing Up for Growth

A company presentation published Thursday said increasing day rates and vessel demand makes now an “attractive time” to expand its fleet. Since the company’s IPO on the Oslo Børs in November 2021, it has seen days rates and vessel demand rise more than 20%. The presentation described the order as part of a strategy to “[utilize] a market opportunity to fortify leading C/SOV market position.”

“The offshore wind industry is continuing its growth and the upward trend is set to continue,” said CEO Kenneth Walland in releasing the company’s Q4 2022 earnings report.

“Market reports indicate a demand for more than 250 service vessels in the offshore wind industry by the end of this decade. The supply of existing C/SOVs plus newbuilds amounts to around 60 vessels, of which 50% are engaged on firm contracts.

“It is expected that the demand/supply gap will result in favourable day rates, particularly in the shorter commissioning segment. The fact that the subsea tonnage is exiting from offshore wind back to oil & gas, suggests an expected increase in this trend,” Walland said.