By Vera Dvorakova and ELENA SMIRNOVA
Feb 26 (Reuters) - Demand for floating wind turbines is much lower than imagined only three to five years ago, Technip Energies (TE.PA) CEO Arnaud Pieton said on Thursday, reflecting broader concerns across the wind power industry.
Ekwil, Technip’s joint venture with SBM Offshore (SBMO.AS) that focuses on floating wind power solutions, will be present where projects are made. However, there are very few projects currently, Pieton told reporters in a post-earnings call.
“We were starting to see signs of a slowdown in floating wind power last year,” Pieton said, noting the technology is expensive and there is a limited number of environments in which it can operate. The offshore wind power industry has been facing global headwinds. In Europe, several countries failed to attract bidders for their offshore wind farm development last year. In the U.S., President Donald Trump issued stop-orders on offshore wind projects in December, including those developed by Orsted (ORSTED.CO) . However, a U.S. court allowed the Danish group to resume work on the projects in February.

Floating wind market 'much smaller' than expected, Technip chief says