Your Questions About the Neretek BC90 Answered
Unlocking Deepwater Offshore Wind
Answers to the most common questions about the Neretek BC90™, the emerging ODOW market and the future of deepwater offshore wind.
Following the launch of Neretek, we've been delighted by the level of interest, engagement and thoughtful questions from customers, partners and industry colleagues.
Many of the questions raised focus on how the Neretek BC90 works, the challenges it addresses, and the benefits it could deliver to offshore wind projects in deeper waters. To make this information accessible to everyone, we've brought together the most frequently asked questions and responses from our team.
We hope this resource provides useful insight into the Neretek BC90, the emerging Other Deepwater Offshore Wind (ODOW) market, and the thinking behind our approach. As new questions emerge and the technology continues to evolve, we'll continue to update this page.
Company & Product Overview
Neretek is an offshore wind technology company established through a partnership between Wood Thilsted Innovation and COP Frontier to develop and commercialise innovative foundation solutions for deeper-water offshore wind.
Its first product, the BC90™, is designed for water depths of 60–90 metres, helping bridge the gap between traditional fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind technologies.
Neretek's mission is to deliver scalable, lower-cost and lower-risk solutions that unlock deepwater offshore wind and accelerate the clean energy transition.
The name Neretek is inspired by the term "neritic", which describes the sunlit marine zone that extends across the continental shelf, where light still reaches the seabed and some of the world's most productive marine environments thrive. The name reflects the company's ambition to build on offshore wind's established foundations while extending development into deeper waters that have historically lacked a commercially viable solution.
The Neretek BC90 is an offshore wind foundation designed for deployment in water depths of 60–90 metres. The name BC90 stands for Buoyant Column 90.
The foundation consists of a buoyant steel column connected to a pre-installed seabed footing via a pin connection, with mooring lines providing lateral restraint.
Designed to operate within the same frequency range as a conventional monopile, the BC90 can utilise existing fixed-bottom wind turbines and standard cable systems. It can also be manufactured using established tower and monopile supply chains and installed without heavy-lift vessels.
The timing reflects both a growing market need and an increasingly supportive policy landscape.
As offshore wind moves into deeper waters, developers require foundation solutions that bridge the gap between conventional fixed-bottom and floating technologies. In July 2026, the UK's recognition of Other Deepwater Offshore Wind (ODOW) within Allocation Round 8 (AR8) highlighted the importance of technologies that can unlock these water depths.
The BC90 has reached a level of maturity that enables engagement with developers, investors, certifiers and the supply chain to support the next phase of offshore wind growth
Market Need & Opportunity
As offshore wind moves into deeper waters, conventional fixed-bottom foundations become increasingly costly and technically challenging, while floating solutions can introduce additional complexity and cost.
This creates a gap in the 60–90 metre depth range, where significant offshore wind resources remain difficult to develop economically. The BC90 has been designed to close that gap.
Other Deepwater Offshore Wind (ODOW) is a new offshore wind technology category introduced in July 2026 within the UK Government's Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. It is designed to accommodate innovative deepwater foundation technologies that are neither conventional fixed-bottom foundations nor legally classified as floating offshore wind foundations.
ODOW will typically apply to offshore wind projects located in water depths greater than 60 metres, beyond the practical or economic limits of traditional fixed-bottom foundations, but where fully floating wind solutions may not represent the most suitable technical or commercial option.
The category creates a pathway for emerging foundation concepts, including hybrid and novel deepwater designs, to compete for support alongside more established offshore wind technologies.
Although the term Other Deepwater Offshore Wind (ODOW) originated in the UK, it can be used more broadly to describe offshore wind foundation technologies worldwide that do not fit neatly within the traditional fixed-bottom or floating offshore wind classifications. As offshore wind development moves into deeper waters globally, ODOW provides a useful descriptor for this growing segment of the market.
The Neretek BC90 has been developed to address this market opportunity.
The UK Government's introduction of the ODOW category in Allocation Round 8 is an important step towards unlocking deeper-water offshore wind sites.
The BC90 has been purpose-built for this market, providing a scalable and commercially viable solution that can help translate ODOW policy into real-world deployment.
The BC90 is designed for water depths of up to 90 metres, representing a significant proportion of the UK's offshore wind resource, including approximately 15.5GW of ScotWind and Celtic Sea development areas.
These are some of the UK's most resource-rich offshore wind sites, making the deepwater market a substantial and growing opportunity.
While developed in the UK, the challenge addressed by the BC90 is global.
Many offshore wind markets are moving into deeper waters where traditional fixed-bottom foundations become less viable. As a result, the BC90 has potential applications in markets including Ireland, France, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and the USA.
Technology Explained
The BC90 combines aspects of both fixed-bottom and floating foundation concepts.
Unlike a monopile, it uses a buoyant column connected to a seabed footing and stabilised by mooring lines. Unlike a floating foundation, it operates within the same frequency range as a conventional monopile, allowing the use of standard turbines and cable systems.
The result is a solution optimised for the 60–90m depth range.
No.
While the BC90 uses a large-diameter steel column that can be manufactured through existing tower and monopile supply chains, it is not a monopile foundation.
The buoyant column transfers vertical loads through a pin connection to a pre-installed seabed footing, while mooring lines manage lateral forces. This enables deployment in deeper waters while maintaining compatibility with conventional wind turbine technology.
The BC90 has been optimised for water depths where conventional fixed-bottom foundations become increasingly challenging and expensive, while floating wind solutions can introduce additional cost and complexity.
This depth range represents a significant market opportunity and a clear technology gap within offshore wind.
In shallower waters, conventional monopiles and jackets are already proven, widely available and highly competitive.
The BC90 has therefore been designed to address a different challenge: enabling cost-effective deployment in deeper waters.
No.
The BC90 has been developed as a long-term solution for a distinct and growing offshore wind market segment. It is not intended to replace fixed-bottom or floating foundations, but to complement them by providing an optimised solution for the 60–90m depth range.
Delivery & Operability
The Neretek BC90 has been developed over nearly a decade by offshore foundation specialists Wood Thilsted, in partnership with COP Frontier.
The design builds on proven engineering principles and established manufacturing and installation methodologies, providing a practical pathway towards commercial deployment.
Neretek is continuing technology development and validation through 2027, with the aim of progressing to a full-scale demonstrator as early as 2028. This programme will further de-risk the technology and support its readiness for future offshore wind projects.
The Neretek BC90 is being developed to align with upcoming offshore wind project cycles.
Subject to project timelines and industry engagement, a first demonstrator is anticipated around 2028–2030, with the potential to support subsequent commercial deployment.
The BC90 has been developed to support the use of modern offshore wind turbines and has been designed around compatibility with existing fixed-bottom turbine technology.
The precise turbine rating will depend on project-specific requirements, site conditions and future turbine developments.
Yes.
A key design objective of the BC90 is to utilise existing manufacturing and supply chain capability wherever possible. This helps reduce development risk while supporting domestic supply-chain participation and industrial growth.
The BC90 foundation has been designed for transportation and installation without the need for heavy-lift vessels.
Its buoyant column enables transportation, wet tow and controlled installation using more readily available marine assets, such as tug vessels, support vessels and anchor-handling vessels. This helps reduce vessel costs, ease scheduling constraints and improve installation flexibility compared with solutions that rely on specialised heavy-lift assets.
The BC90 foundation has been designed to work with conventional port facilities and existing offshore wind logistics infrastructure.
Its buoyant design enables transportation and installation without heavy-lift vessels, while the installation methodology centres on a pre-installed seabed footing followed by connection of the column and mooring system.
This approach is intended to simplify offshore operations and improve deployment efficiency.
The BC90 has been designed to support O&M practices that are familiar to the offshore wind industry.
Once installed, the BC90 operates in a similar manner to a fixed-bottom monopile, enabling the use of established operational and maintenance approaches. The foundation, mooring system and seabed connection can be monitored using proven inspection and condition-monitoring technologies, including sensors, remote monitoring and routine offshore inspections.
As a result, operators can leverage existing offshore wind experience and best practices while benefiting from the BC90's deepwater capabilities.
Neretek is engaging with certification bodies throughout the development process to ensure the BC90 meets relevant industry standards and certification requirements.
Certification activities will continue as the design progresses towards deployment.
The BC90's base design incorporates six mooring lines arranged as three pairs, providing both stability and inherent redundancy within the mooring system.
Neretek is engaging closely with certifiers and insurers throughout the design process to ensure the foundation meets applicable certification, risk and insurability requirements. This collaborative approach helps ensure that technical performance, reliability and risk management considerations are addressed as the design progresses towards deployment.
Leadership & Development
The BC90 has been developed by offshore foundation specialists Wood Thilsted in partnership with COP Frontier, a sister company to Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP).
The initiative is led by an experienced offshore wind team, including Jonathan Cole (Chair), alongside the founders of Wood Thilsted and senior development and engineering leaders from COP Frontier.