In a further decisive step towards the upcoming market requirements for installation and service of offshore wind turbines, A2SEA take full ownership in M/V Ocean Ady and M/V Ocean Hanne at the end of February 2005. Until now, Ady and Hanne have been contracted by A2SEA on a long-term charter agreement with ORION – PEP Shipping. Ocean Ady and Ocean Hanne will be renamed as Sea Energy and Sea Power. Both vessels were converted by A2SEA into offshore installation vessels in 2001–2002 and have been operating in the offshore wind industry. At the end of March, Sea Energy will be docked for additional conversion. Sea Energy’s jacking legs will be extended from their current 17m to 28.5m, which will enable operations to be performed at water depths of up to 25m – depending on seabed penetration. For further projects in 2006–2008 it is also planned to upgrade the crane capacity for the larger and heavier turbines.

M/V Sea Power is expected to have her main business within the service segment as an external crane vessel for exchange of main components on offshore wind turbines. M/V Sea Power and Sea Energy will have their home port in Esbjerg, Denmark, which has a short connecting distance to offshore wind farms of northern Europe.

Wind power continues to gain momentum across Canada. A recent example, the Melancthon Grey Wind Project, is one of the first utility-scale wind projects to be developed in the province of Ontario and will use 45 GE Energy’s 1.5MW wind turbines to add 67.5MW of wind capacity to the country’s growing total. Located near Shelburne, 70km northwest of Toronto, Melancthon Grey is among five new wind projects recently approved by the government of Ontario. Another of the Ontario projects, Erie Shores Wind Farm, also will feature GE Energy’s 1.5MW technology. The Canadian wind power industry recently received a major boost when the Canadian government increased its original 1,000MW Wind Power Production Incentive (WPPI) to 4,000MW. Under the WPPI, qualifying projects receive a payment of C$ 10 per megawatt hour of electricity produced from wind energy. Melancthon Grey is expected to qualify for the WPPI. The project owner and developer is Canadian Hydro Developers, Inc. of Calgary, Alberta. Since 2000, Canadian Hydro has invested more than C$ 179 million in the development of seven low-impact, renewable energy projects in Alberta and British Columbia. Canadian Projects Limited of Calgary is the project manager, responsible for the overall construction. Groundbreaking for the project is expected to occur in the spring of 2005, with commercial operation expected no later than 30 March 2006.