In this episode, our guest was Knut Vassbotn, CEO of Deep Wind Offshore. We discussed about Knut’s journey from offshore engineering teams in the O&G sector, developing high-performing teams both in Norway and in the UK, and his organic transition into the offshore wind industry. Knut worked in LNG development as a young engineer (a great first experience for any young engineer) and then, little by little, gathered more experience in London, setting up the Aker organisation. He is bringing the whole wealth of experience at Aker (where he’s spent most of his career) to the huge wave of offshore wind with the newly launched Deep Wind Offshore.

We discussed the clear transferable skills from one offshore environment to another: mechanical, electrical, materials engineering, naval & marine architecture, utility systems, procurement, etc.

Good lessons on how to increase the internal capabilities of Aker to be prepared for the rapidly changing offshore wind environment even 6 years ago. With current momentum from countries like the Netherlands, Ireland, UK, Norway, Knut is convinced that the market is huge.

We also touched upon the great momentum from a government stimulus both in Europe ($750B will be spent in renewables by the EU as part of the Green Recovery) and from the new US administration. And although there might be some regulatory challenges in certain countries, Knut recognises the major tailwinds in favour of offshore wind and that obviously led his move to lead a new organisation focusing on capturing this accelerating market.

Finally, we talked about how Norway faces a risk of being too exposed to O&G in particular with the pressure coming from neighbouring countries society and investors alike. In here, knowledge/capability/expertise/talent capture is crucial for Norway to develop a national supply chain that can create jobs and actually set them into a path to export technology to other countries.

We also explored the exciting question of what the role of the super-majors will be in this shifting landscape where NextEra or Iberdrola have similar valuations as their O&G counterparts.

Would Latin America/Africa/SE Asia be able to ride this wave? Knut believes that yes, believing that isolated energy systems, mini-grids, and the combinations of renewable production with energy storage. He gave the example of the Utsira Island where a new battery plant is being installed to depend less of the power cable coming from onshore. This could serve as a footprint for other regions.

Aker Solutions: https://www.akersolutions.com/

Deep Wind Offshore website: https://dwo.no/

David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcontrerasdiaz/

Art by: Maria Alexandra Monteverde / Instagram: @mariale.ilustra.asi

Editing, mixing and mastering by: Julio César Fernández / Instagram: @juliocfdez

Disclaimer: This podcast was prepared by myself in my personal capacity and the views and opinions expressed in the podcast are my own.  They do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of TGS and TGS does not guarantee the accuracy or reliability of the information provided herein.