Sumitomo Electric Industries and Seaway 7 ASA  are pleased to announce that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining their intention to collaborate on offshore wind projects in Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific region. The collaboration will focus on providing robust, competitive, and localised turnkey engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning solutions for submarine cable projects. Sumitomo Electric will contribute its in-depth knowledge of the regional market and accumulated experience in the design and manufacturing of submarine cables. Seaway 7 will provide its state-of-the-art installation services with an extensive track record of successfully completed submarine cable system projects for offshore renewables, oil and gas, and utility markets globally.

The Japanese and Asian offshore wind market is expected to grow substantially in the next decades, based on a mixture of both bottom-fixed and floating offshore wind projects, and has already attracted a significant number of local and international offshore wind developers.

The collaboration between Sumitomo Electric and Seaway 7 will enable them to provide a unique service to meet the need for a one-stop-shop EPIC submarine cable solution for the regional offshore wind market. The two companies are committed to support customers, who seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for a sustainable future by combining their extensive global experience with localised solutions.

Yasuyuki Shibata, Managing Executive Officer of Sumitomo Electric, said: “We are delighted to form this strategic collaboration with Seaway 7 to jointly contribute towards the decarbonisation of the regions for decades to come.”

Stuart Fitzgerald, CEO of Seaway 7, said: “The intended partnership with Sumitomo Electric builds on our existing long-term business relationship and is aimed at introducing our combined expertise and capabilities into the emerging offshore wind market in Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific region, which is in high demand for competitive and reliable solutions.”