The signing of this addendum goes hand in hand with the memorandum of understanding that Sif Decom (a Sif subsidiary) and Dillinger have concluded to participate in developing the decommissioning process for offshore wind foundations. This MoU marks the finalization of a joint-research project executed by Sif, KCI and Dillinger to produce a detailed design for a monopile recycling factory. Sif Decom will now continue working to finalize the business case. Once the investment decision is taken, Dillinger will be invited to actively participate in the monopile recycling factory, and in return will secure the high-grade steel output by it. The monopile recycling factory is designed to close the circularity loop by providing the recycled steel as efficiently as possible for Dillinger's low-emission steel production.

By signing the “green steel” addendum to the plate supply framework agreement, Sif and Dillinger have further detailed the transition to supplying green steel plates for Sif’s new and enhanced XXXL monopile factory.

Read the full release in PDF attachment 

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Sif Holding n.v. and Port of Rotterdam have agreed on the lease of an additional 20 hectares industrial land, adjacent to Sif’s existing operations at Maasvlakte 2 near Rotterdam. This expansion facilitates Sif’s new business opportunity in response to demand from new and existing clients for marshalling space and onshore support services for offshore wind. This demand is underpinned by the agreement between Sif and DEME Offshore for a major contract on marshalling services starting October 2019.

Sif has leased approximately 42 ha land at Maasvlakte 2 since 2015 for a 25-year period. On this land, Sif realized its assembly facility that was taken into operation in 2016. Increasing client demand for marshalling services has propelled this 20 ha expansion agreement which has an expiration date parallel to the already leased 42 ha. The location is well situated for new offshore wind projects (1 hour steaming to open sea and short sailing distances to new windfarms in the French-Belgian-UK and Dutch waters) and the already worldclass quay facilities will be expanded by 200 meters by mid 2023. The quay will have a guaranteed nautical depth of 16.5m NAP, allows close-to-quay jacking and offers surface load of 10 Kn/m2.

For offshore wind construction services, contractors require storage and handling services like cranage and transportation. For DEME Offshore’s Borssele 1+2 project, 47 monopiles, 94 transition pieces and 94 anode cages will be shipped to Maasvlakte 2 from Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom to be assembled and prepared for offshore construction.

Sif will facilitate DEME Offshore and future clients with SPMT’s, gantry cranes, crawler cranes and telescopic cranes for onsite transportation and marshalling activities from our MV2 location. Double digit million-euro annual revenues are expected from this activity within 2 to 3 years.

The lease agreement and hand- over between Port of Rotterdam and Sif Holding of the additional 20 hectares land was formalized on 31 July 2019. The equipment for marshalling services is leased by Sif on a project- specific basis.

Port of Rotterdam CEO Allard Castelein: 
‘We are proud of the success of SIF Group in our port. Since the arrival of SIF Group in 2015, Rotterdam has been successful in strengthening its position in offshore wind. This expansion will enable this leading player in the market to develop even further. It confirms our policy of stimulating offshore wind and other offshore industry as an important growth market and to use our expertise, space and development strength to further this growth."

Sif Holding CEO Fred van Beers:
"This 20 Ha extension perfectly fits our strategy to expand our services to the offshore wind industry with complex marshalling and terminal activities for offshore wind. This additional lease agreement is a further proof of our believe in the strong bond between Port of Rotterdam and SIF. We foresee a structural demand for these services and are proud to be selected by Deme Offshore who is our launching customer for these marshalling services when preparing and realizing their offshore wind project Borssele I-II”.

The installation of the monopiles is subject to a schedule that includes seasonal restrictions on pile driving activity as a protective measure for the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whales. Sif’s ability and confidence to meet this schedule was an important consideration in being selected by Vineyard Wind. Sif scheduled the production of these monopiles for the first half of 2020.

The requirement of an additional Environmental Impact Study (EIS) by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is now delaying the project beyond the timeframe initially assumed by Vineyard Wind. This unexpected requirement again is a good example of the volatility of the offshore wind market. Sif and Vineyard Wind are investigating the impact and possible mitigation of the delays caused hereby. It however has become inevitable that delays will be suffered which will impact Sif’s production planning for 2020. If and how this will have an impact is not yet clear as this depends on how Vineyard Wind decides to proceed. At this time, it is Vineyard Wind’s priority to get clarity on the impact for the total Vineyard Wind project. Vineyard Wind has indicated that they need some time to assess, which could take approximately four to six weeks.

Sif has allowed for a delay of a few months in their planning and included decision moments on the planning in their contract with Vineyard Wind. Sif is studying the consequences of mitigation options beyond the contractually agreed delay decision moments. Once clarity on their expected new schedule is received from Vineyard Wind within the next four to six weeks, the impact on Sif’s production planning and schedule can be assessed in more detail. Only at that time it will be clear if there is a financial impact beyond the provisions in the contract and what mitigating actions Sif is able to take.

The facility is currently equipped with two fully operational production lines, which have the capacity to produce four complete monopiles per week.

In his officiating speech at the opening ceremony, Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Henk Kamp expressed his admiration for the groundbreaking efforts by Sif to develop offshore wind energy as an energy source: "As a family-owned business with solid roots in Limburg province, Sif has undergone remarkable growth and development and helped to ensure that the need for subsidies for building offshore wind turbines will be eliminated within the next few years. This means we are on track to become a low-carbon society."

In his speech, Port of Rotterdam CEO Allard Castelein stated his hope that the Minister would be able to translate the objectives of the sustainability sector into a long-term vision for further advancing the development of wind as a source of energy: "Wind energy is a perfect example of a win-win situation. In addition to resulting in cleaner energy consumption, creating jobs, and generating revenue in a whole new segment of industry, it also attracts many related businesses looking to settle in this area."

Sif Holding N.V. CEO Jan Bruggenthijs expressed his pride at the successful completion of the project and explained the significance of the new facility in his speech: "This is a perfect representation of the goals that Sif is committed to. We continue to focus on reducing the costs of the construction of offshore wind farms. We do this not only by applying the cost leadership concept to the use of ultra-modern production resources but also by constantly reducing costs in the total value chain. Together with our clients and offshore wind-farm developers, Sif will continue searching for further cost optimization and supporting the possibility to create wind farms without subsidies."

The project took a total of approximately 30 months to complete, from the signing of the partnership agreement between Sif and Port of Rotterdam in March 2015 and the launch of production in September 2016 up to and including the commissioning of the second production line and the facility's official opening this year. The operation coincided with the upgrade of the production facilities at Sif's Roermond site. This marks the completion of an investment program involving an amount of roughly € 90 million, created by Sif to enable offshore wind-farm managers to start using a new generation of wind turbines with larger capacities.

The Taiwanese offshore wind market is developing rapidly and the Taiwanese government's renewable energy policy aims to achieve a status of "non-nuclear homeland" by the end of 2025. The goal is to install 3 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2025. Century Wind Power Co. and Sif want to contribute jointly to this ambitious target.

For that purpose, the parties have signed a letter of intent, confirming their objectives and investigating the possibilities of a joint venture to offer and produce monopiles and transition pieces for the Taiwanese market. Until the Taiwanese market demonstrates a structural demand for offshore wind monopile foundations, sections will be manufactured at Sif's locations in The Netherlands to be assembled and coated by Century in Taiwan