Associates Area

Mainstream Renewable Power is a leading pure-play renewable energy company with a global wind and solar portfolio of more than 29 gigawatts, and employing more than 700 people across Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Mainstream is now advancing gigawatt-scale offshore wind projects in Norway, Ireland, the UK, Sweden and other European countries, and is currently developing a net capacity of 1.3 GW of floating offshore wind in Scotland and South Korea as well as 1.23 GW of fixed bottom offshore wind in Vietnam.

As a member of the Aker ASA group, we are able to leverage a strong network of expertise through our majority shareholder Aker Horizons and its portfolio companies such as Aker Asset Development, Aker Carbon Capture and its hydrogen development initiatives. Other companies in our Aker ecosystem include the supply chain arm Aker Solutions and Cognite, the digitalisation experts.

In 2022, Mainstream integrated with Aker Offshore Wind, the offshore wind developer with special focus on deep water and floating wind. The combination pairs world-class development and industrialisation capabilities with a strong execution and technology track record. It has also positioned Mainstream as a major shareholder of Principle Power, the world’s leading floating wind foundation supplier. Through this ownership stake, we can trace our roots in Portugal back to 2011, when Principle Power’s WindFloat technology was first deployed in the pioneering WindFloat 1 project.

Portugal has huge offshore wind potential, and we believe that the proposed regulatory framework will stimulate growth of the sector, of which we hope to contribute. With GWEC calculating Portugal’s technical floating offshore wind resource at more than 117 GW, we are committed to helping the country build a sustainable offshore wind sector with local, clean energy jobs and a strong industrial backbone. As a company, co-existence with others, sustainability and planet-positive wind farm development are key priorities. 

Mainstream engagement in Portugal is overseen by its business development team in Hamburg, Germany, which is dedicated to developments in Europe – a strategic region for the company – as well as new markets globally, exploring their potential for new offshore wind projects that will assist in achieving climate change targets.

You can follow Mainstream on LinkedIn and @MainstreamRP on Twitter. For more information, visit the company's website.

About the author:

Carlotta Gradissimo is an Offshore Wind Technical Development Manager at Mainstream Renewable Power, leading on floating wind development and engineering inputs for offshore site selection and project development.

The Portuguese national has worked in the offshore industry for eight years, with roles in the oil & gas sector, renewable energy consultancy. She holds a Master (MSc) in Environmental Engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon.

Now based at Mainstream’s Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence in Edinburgh, Carlotta oversees floating offshore wind efforts globally for the leading pure-play renewable energy company.

Speaking on her appointment as Mainstream’s APREN Associate representative, she said: “Being Portuguese and growing up in Portugal, I am particularly proud and highly motivated to take part in the development of offshore wind and contribute in the industry to achieve Portugal’s potential, climate targets and ambitions”.