Dulas Ltd, one of the UK’s longest standing renewable energy companies with 30 years’ experience in the sector, has announced that it is in negotiations to purchase Chillwind Ltd, the UK’s leading meteorological mast supply company.
The partnership will strengthen Dulas’ ability to manufacture, distribute and install met masts across the UK and in Europe, and will allow Chillwind to develop its business by working closely with one of the UK’s longest established renewable energy companies. By combining both companies’ resources and expertise, UK-based wind developers and wind farm operators will benefit from the shared technical knowledge and full UK installation coverage provided.
Dulas has been the exclusive installation partner of Chillwind for the past decade, having identified the technology as the most advanced mast system on the UK market for measuring wind resource. Designed for harsh mountainous climates, the Chillwind mast system is a robust and innovative system that has proved popular with wind developers and wind farm operators across the country.
Dulas and Chillwind will work together to provide a number of services, including SecondWind’s Triton SoDAR rentals, Chillwind’s tilt-up towers up to 90 metres, instrumentation services for onshore and offshore lattice towers and full bankable resource analysis. The breadth of experience and expertise created by the partnership will mean that wind developers can be confident that a robust wind dataset is collected in a cost-effective and safe manner.
Jonathan Say , Head of Wind Monitoring at Dulas said: “Chillwind has developed a superior met mast product that far exceeds other designs on the market. Chillwind has a strong reputation for innovation and engineering quality and we are pleased to be partnering with them to offer the UK’s wind industry access to quality met mast and remote sensing services. This partnership will further enhance the service offering to developers, enabling rapid response to clients all across the UK and will see both organisations grow from strength to strength as market leaders in the sector.”
As part of the full UK installation coverage, a stock of met masts, instrumentation and remote sensing systems will be held, ready for immediate installation upon consent of met mast planning. For developers that already own Chillwind met masts, a structural analysis can be undertaken and certificate provided, so the bare mast can be re-used with new guy wires and anchors.
Richard Tarves, Chillwind’s Managing Director, will remain in place at Chillwind ensuring continuity and consistent service delivery to existing and new clients alike. Richard said: “Dulas has led the renewable energy industry for over 30 years, and this partnership is a natural progression from our already close working relationship. Our combined wind monitoring services offer the flexible, rapid deployment options that wind developers need, with a choice of tower heights or full turbine blade wind measurements with the Triton SoDAR. I am very much looking forward to being involved in the exciting new phase of growth for both companies.”
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Offshore WIND staff, June 6, 2012; Image: Dulas