Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) is going to invest in Dutch floating wind technology developer TouchWind and will obtain a minority share in the company.

Following the MoU for joint development of floating wind technology last year, and the announcement in May this year about strengthening their alliance, MOL and TouchWind are taking their co-operation to a next level.

With a financial investment, field testing of TouchWind’s tilting angled one-piece rotor floating wind turbine can be expanded as well as new research into positive wake effects.

Ryota Hayashi, General Manager responsible for Wind Power Projects Unit in MOL states: ’We are pleased that we can continue the journey with TouchWind and have become a shareholder of the company as we see exciting potential in their technology’.

Founder and CEO of TouchWind, Rikus van de Klippe welcomes MOL as shareholder in TouchWind: ‘we have been working together for a year now on the further development of our floating wind turbine. Field testing with a 6m diameter rotor is in full preparation at the Oostvoorne lake in the Netherlands. With MOL as a shareholder and their investments we can speed up our testing programme, prove our technology and reduce time to market’