(Reuters) - French state-controlled nuclear group Areva and Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa are in advanced talks over a joint venture in offshore wind turbines, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
Both firms would hold a 50 percent stake in the new entity, which would focus on expanding the promising but capital-intensive offshore windfarms business, one of the sources said.
Areva and Gamesa declined to comment on the potential deal but both have been tipped in the past to be exploring partnerships in offshore wind.
"In offshore you need a strategic partner. Without a deal, Gamesa would have fallen behind," said Intermoney analyst Alvaro Navarro.He added that in Europe, around a third of the new capacity that will be installed over the next years will be offshore.
....Areva, which builds nuclear reactors and mines uranium, is struggling to diversify into offshore wind energy. It does not make onshore turbines.
Only six percent of its 9.34 billion euro revenue in 2012 came from its renewables arm, which has been loss-making since 2010 when Areva started reporting the unit's results separately...Areva has teamed up with French gas and power group GDF Suez for a French tender to build 1,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind capacity ..of which 500 MW is off Le Treport in northern France and 500 MW off the islands of Noirmoutier and Yeu.
Areva will develop an 8 MW turbine for that tender, one of the largest in the world.
Gamesa, 19.7 percent owned by Iberdrola, has stepped up efforts to expand abroad since the Spanish government, in July 2013, passed a tough energy reform which cut back public subsidies to clean energy producers.
The firm had 2012 sales of 2.8 billion euros and posted a net loss of 659 million euros, its first loss in a decade, Reuters data show.
The world's No. 4 wind turbine maker, Gamesa has already installed almost 27,000 MW of onshore turbine capacity worldwide and is now developing an offshore turbine with a capacity of 5 MW. The firm is also considering a more powerful 7-8 MW model.
www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/17/...sa-idUSBREA0G0LO20140117
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