The European Commission (EC) has approved the joint control acquisition of EEW Offshore Wind EU by EEW Holding and Sumitomo under the EU Merger Regulation.
The collaboration involves German and Japanese entities producing large steel tubes for offshore wind farms. The EC concluded the acquisition would not raise competition concerns, as the market structure remains largely unaffected.
Last year, Sumitomo announced plans to acquire a stake in EEW Offshore Wind EU to enhance its monopile manufacturing capabilities. The partnership integrates Sumitomo’s international steel expertise with EEW’s offshore wind infrastructure specialization.
In a separate development, the EC granted €998 million ($1.08 billion) to a Dutch green hydrogen initiative and €80 million to Djewels, a subsidiary of HyCC, for green hydrogen technology development. Under the EU Hydrogen Strategy and European Green Deal, the funding aims to build at least 200MW of electrolysis capacity by 2024, with projects requiring a minimum of 0.5MW capacity to qualify.
In October 2024, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas and Perennial Power Holdings partnered with CEP Solar to establish a joint venture for clean energy development in Virginia, US. The venture targets over 1.5GW of solar and battery storage assets.