Global reinsurer Munich Re insures serial loss risk on offshore wind turbines

Munich Re has extended the range of solutions it offers for risks in renewable energy production with today’s announcement that it has become the first insurance group to offer serial loss cover for offshore wind energy units.

Representatives for Munich Re’s Board of Management, Nordwest Assekuranz and turbine manufacturer REpower Systems SE, a subsidiary of Suzlon Group, have signed corresponding cover for a North Sea wind farm, notes a press release from Munich Re, which combines primary insurance and reinsurance under one roof.

The move is expected to help facilitate the financing of major offshore projects and provide customers with certainty regarding funding of major projects, the statement says.

“With innovative solutions like this serial loss cover, we create investor security and help new technologies for the production of renewable energy gain a foothold in the market,” adds Dr. Thomas Blunck, a member of the Munich Re board.

The five-year cover means Munich Re will pay the costs of repairing or replacing defective turbines or individual components if there are serial losses affecting a number of elements (such as the gearbox, the rotor or the tower); deploying the special vessels required; and carrying out retrofits on units in which defective parts have been installed, even if no loss or damage has been sustained.

Munich Re reports that one of its specialty primary insurers is involved in providing this insurance solution, which was developed in conjunction with Nordwest Assekuranz.

“Serial loss cover for offshore wind farms gives our customers certainty regarding the funding of major projects, and the insurance cover and the guarantee Munich Re provides with it testify to the quality of our wind energy units,” Marcus Wassenberg, chief financial officer of REpower, says in the statement.

“We are again breaking new ground in the cover of special risks for the booming offshore energy industry,” adds Thomas Haukje, managing partner of Nordwest Assekuranz, calling the offering a milestone in major offshore wind projects.

Also related to the offshore energy sector, Munich Re is developing cover associated with delays that may affect offshore projects if vessels cannot be deployed as a result of bad weather conditions.

Photos: REPower’s offshore wind project Ormonde (Credit: Jan Oelker / REpower)