HOM and Rovco Form Partnership For Japanese Offshore Wind Market

Horizon Ocean Management (HOM), a JV between Mitsui and Hokutaku, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Rovco for through-life subsea asset integrity and balance of plant survey solutions for the Japanese offshore wind market.

The agreement will see both parties work together to analyze the Japanese offshore wind market and develop a better understanding of in-country demand, as well as developing asset integrity programs of work to support the maintenance of critical infrastructure.

HOM was formed in 2021 by Japanese conglomerate Mitsui and Hokutaku, the country’s leading wind turbine maintenance company. It has already established a unique position within the supply chain of the offshore wind industry in Japan.

Rovco and HOM will enter into a joint business development agreement, with a view to strengthening commercial ties and jointly promoting new projects. They aim to build a world-class service model for subsea integrity and survey scopes across offshore wind developments in Japan.

Drawing on Rovco's reputation as a leading provider of technology-focused survey solutions to the global offshore wind sector, the collaboration provides a powerful proposition, offering through-life subsea asset integrity, 3D difference modelling assessments and critical subsea component data analysis for predictive and preventative maintenance to offshore wind projects across Japan, in the operational phase. The partnership also assists in the creation of early operation and maintenance planning regimes for clients, building upon substantial industry know-how.

Leveraging Rovco’s extensive experience gained across the UK and European sectors, the agreement will enable Japan to adopt and benefit from the lessons learned by more developed markets at an early stage. Combined with HOM’s profound understanding of the local market and regulatory requirements, the collaboration will pave the way for expansion across Japan’s coastlines.

The companies have launched a joint proposal to clients for a number of future operations and maintenance projects. The Japanese government last year unveiled ambitious plans for offshore wind expansion, including targets of 10 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and installations of a combined 30 GW to 45 GW by 2040, along with a cost reduction target by industry of 8 to 9 yen/kWh between 2030 and 2035.

“This partnership marks a significant milestone for Rovco. The Japanese offshore wind sector is rapidly upscaling, and this is an exciting opportunity for us to work alongside Horizon Ocean Management, sharing vital insight into subsea asset integrity best practices, whilst introducing both established and emerging technologies that help capture, interpret and present key infrastructure performance against design criteria and ensuring operational uptime with overall economic benefit to our customers,” said Simon Miller, Chief Revenue Officer at Rovco.

“The European offshore wind supply chain has a wealth of marine and subsea experience via its long history in sectors such as Oil & Gas, in order to realise our national offshore wind deployment vision, HOM believe that learning from and working with the leading companies in these more advanced markets will develop and improve Japanese competence earlier, ultimately helping to establish middle to long-term local capability. We identified Rovco as one of the most innovative subsea inspection companies and are delighted to be collaborating with them here in Japan,” added Nobuyuki Takagi, Managing Director of HOM.

Earlier this year, Rovco and its sister company Vaarst completed a successful series B raise to fund global expansion plans, co-led by Legal & General Capital alongside Equinor Ventures. This saw an initial £15.2m raise complete in April, with subsequent further investor contributions taking the total raise to £20.5m.

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