Inverness-headquartered Aurora Energy Services (Aurora) has acquired Encomara, a specialist in floating wind deployment systems and subsea engineering, and will provide significant investment to support the roll-out of its flagship mooring connection technology.
The acquisition brings into the Aurora fold Encomara’s innovative SQUID system – a proprietary quick-connect system that integrates pre-installed mooring and electrical connections in one modular subsea unit.
The system is designed to reduce the cost, time, and risk associated with the deployment, recovery and reconnection of floating offshore wind turbines.
By allowing tow-to-port strategies and decoupling installation phases, SQUID significantly de-risks offshore construction and O&M campaigns, offering major gains in safety, schedule, and repeatability. It also facilitates future multi-use infrastructure strategies, including dynamic inter-array systems and hybrid generation models.
Aurora Energy Services CEO, Doug Duguid, said, “Encomara’s SQUID system is a step-change in floating wind development and this acquisition aligns perfectly with our technical strategy. SQUID allows operators to modularise and industrialise offshore construction and combined with our fabrication and engineering capability, it gives Aurora a unique position in the market.
“We are committed to providing key investment in the SQUID system to develop prototypes, in extensive offshore testing and roll-out to market, as we believe this is a true game-changer and it supports our ambition to lead in the energy transition.”
Encomara’s UK-based team will relocate to Aurora House in Dyce, Aberdeen, maintaining its brand and product identity while benefiting from Aurora’s global infrastructure and client network.
Its consultancy business, which offers specialist advice on floating wind, mooring systems, and subsea field development, will continue to operate as normal but now has access to greater scale, resource and reach.
The integration of Encomara’s leadership team into Aurora is also central to the acquisition. Executive Chairman Ian Donald and CEO Raymond Semple will join Aurora’s board and executive leadership team, with Raymond assuming the role of Chief Operating Officer, based at Aurora’s Houston office, while Ecomara’s Chief Technology Officer, Malcolm Bowie, will continue in the same role in Aurora.
Current Aurora COO, Tom Smith, will take on a new role as Regional Director for EAME (Europe Africa and Middle East) to harness growing market opportunities and will continue as a member of the executive board.
Ian Donald has more than 40 years of offshore subsea field development experience and held senior roles at Venture, Apache and Neptune. He also previously founded Enpro Subsea and DES Operations Ltd, both acquired after successful global commercialisation of patented technology. Raymond Semple, formerly COO of Technip North America and Brazil, and most recently head of Baker Hughes’ Subsea Production Systems business, brings three decades of operational and project delivery expertise across deepwater basins worldwide.
Ian Donald said, “Aurora’s ambition and capability give Encomara the ideal platform to accelerate our roadmap and bring the SQUID system to more markets, more quickly. Together, we can industrialise floating wind deployment while staying focused on innovation, safety, and engineering quality.”
Ian Cobban, a co-founder of Encomara, added, “I’m very excited to see the Aurora and Encomara teams move to commercialise the SQUID system, which will become a key part of the new Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) delivery model.”
Aurora, established in 2022, now operates across 11 international bases in the UK, United States, Australia and Chile, providing fabrication, subsea engineering, technical manpower, inspection, integrity, and specialist access services to clients across renewables, conventional energy and decommissioning.
This acquisition reinforces Aurora’s strategy to support the energy transition through investment in enabling technologies that support Net Zero goals and experienced leadership, and it supports the delivery of integrated offshore solutions across its international portfolio.
Pic captions: Aurora-Encomara – left to right – Ian Cobban, Ian Donald, Doug Duguid and Malcolm Bowie.