Minesto slashes costs, closes Wales office in major reorganization

Swedish tidal energy developer Minesto has finalized a reorganization process aimed at aligning the business for commercial rollout and reducing fixed costs. The changes include geographic consolidation, a trimmed management structure, and tighter product development integration. The company reports a 35% reduction in fixed costs as a result.

Minesto has shut down its Holyhead office in Wales, co-locating its Support and Operations management with the leadership team at its Gothenburg headquarters. Operations now center on the existing site in Vestmanna, Faroe Islands, where the company is working closely with local partners.

“We have concentrated the Minesto organization at the head-office in Göteborg and closed-down the office in Wales for efficiency and synergy reasons. We remain fully committed to our tidal site and build-out plan for Holyhead Deep, retaining local presence regarding site development. Our ability to get Holyhead Deep financed and built is not affected by this shift,” said Martin Edlund, CEO of Minesto.

According to Minesto, the management team has been reduced from eight to six members. Conventional line functions remain, with broader responsibilities assigned for commercialization and project delivery.

“We are grateful for the lasting value that David Collier – Chief Strategy Officer and Hans Lindström – Chief Supply Chain Officer contributed to Minesto. In our new smaller team, we have found a good balance in dividing and sharing responsibilities. Notably, the cross-functional nature of commercial development in our emerging business makes it a success-factor to have customer involvement from the whole team. Further, our partnership with EY working on investment cases, financing and investor interactions has proved to be very constructive,” Edlund added.

Product development and operations have been more tightly integrated, covering array installation methods and scaling up manufacturing for Dragon systems. The research and development (R&D) team has been reduced as the company shifts from broad-based research to project-specific customization.

“We have improved our ability to source external resources for site development and operations. Our international partners TCC Green Energy, Hydrokite, Poseidon & Sev to name a few are involved hands on in site development work targeting sites for Minesto Dragon build out,” said Edlund.

“Also, closer relationships with suppliers on product development and manufacturing have expanded our resource-base whilst not increasing our headcount, for example with SKF on drive trains and steering modules, Future Fibres (a part of North Technology Group) on the unique anchoring tether and Elitkomposit on planning for scale-up of the critical wing manufacturing.” 

Following the reorganization, Minesto now operates with 36 employees. The company says it retains the flexibility to scale up as needed.

In June, Minesto started leading a consortium of four that was awarded a SEK 25 million (approximately $2.6 million) grant from the Swedish Energy Agency to build a complete microgrid installation in the Faroe Islands.