Partnership for offshore wind standardization grows: Ørsted joins WIS

The partnership spans turbine manufacturers and project developers to vessel operators, logistics and port players, as well as specialists in lifting, rigging and engineering. 

Most recently, Ørsted has joined the collaboration to help strengthen industrialization and make projects more predictable, reducing unnecessary customization, iterations and “one-offs” in the installation phase. 

Launched in late 2023, WIS has already delivered tangible results. Most recently, the WIS Seafastening Design Guideline was launched as a shared step toward a more industrialized wind industry.  

Ørsted: Safety and operational efficiency must be part of the standard 

For Ørsted, participation in WIS is first and foremost about making industrialization operational and ensuring that shared guidelines can be applied in practice across projects, suppliers, vessels and ports. 

Ørsted points out that industrialization can enable both faster execution and more robust workflows, especially in phases where projects typically spend time on rebuilds, adaptations and repeated clarifications. 

“We are joining WIS because we see strong potential in making standardization more usable in practice and bringing shared solutions all the way into planning and execution. Especially around mobilization and demobilization, more uniform workflows can increase safety and support more stable progress. These are the kinds of concrete improvements we want to help deliver through this collaboration,” says Lars Valentin, Senior Program Manager, Technology Programme Management, Ørsted. 

Standardization and industrialization require broad industry backup 

The WIS collaboration also aligns with the ambitions in the recently announced North Sea Offshore Wind Investment Pact, where governments have committed to building 15 GW of offshore wind per year between 2031 and 2040 while working to de-risk investments. 

In parallel, the wind industry has pledged to reduce offshore wind costs by 30% by 2040 compared to 2025 levels. Industrialization will be key to achieving this target. And through WIS, OEMs are working closely with the supply chain to turn that ambition into practical solutions. 

The growing support for WIS is an important signal that standardization can be lifted as a shared industry task - without becoming a silo solution for individual players. 

The driving forces behind WIS, Vestas and Siemens Gamesa, emphasize that broad industry anchoring is crucial to create scale and impact: the more key stakeholders work within the same framework, the easier it becomes to translate common principles into concrete improvements across projects and deliveries. 

The partnership is now finalizing a Tower Transport Design, aimed at making transport and storage of wind turbine towers more consistent, from manufacturer to installation port. 

At the same time, the WIS partnership is continuously identifying new sub-projects and interfaces where standardization can deliver the greatest impact ensuring standards are not just on paper, but create real value in operations and installation. 

Read more about WIS here. 

You can also subscribe to the WIS Insights newsletter to stay updated about the project. 

Partners in WIS 

Advantis • Blue Water Shipping • BMS Heavy Cranes • Cadeler • Cakeboxx Technologies • Certex Danmark • Dansk Gummi Industri • Enabl • Energy Cluster Denmark • Flindt Kristensen Engineering • Fred Olsen Wind Carrier • Havfram • JALN Engineering • JVP Steel • Liftra • A.P Moller - Maersk • Mammoet • NorSea • Ørsted • Plarad Wagner • Grenaa Havn • Semco • Siemens Gamesa • Vestas • Vuyk