The First Expert Interview: NW Assekuranz as the Point of Contact for Insurance, Matthias Kliesch & Olaf Weidemann
1. What do you both do at AquaConsult, and what is your background?
As NW Assekuranz, we advise our clients on risk and insurance management. We arrange insurance coverage for companies and projects and take care of the claims management when something goes wrong. Long before we purchase insurance coverage for our clients or help them manage risks in other ways, we advise on risk components in the drafting of supply and installation, and also maintenance contracts. Our primary focus is the field of renewable energy, where we are market leaders in Germany, particularly in offshore wind. As we are already supporting large hydrogen projects, it was almost inevitable that we would work with proven partners in other consulting disciplines through a cooperation to offer a one-stop-shop of the highest level to these projects. This is exactly what AquaConsult is.
2. The bankability of offshore hydrogen projects largely depends to a large degree on their insurability. What challenges exist in organizing insurance coverage for these projects?
Banks are generally risk-averse, especially when it comes to new technologies and their applications. They want to ensure that projects are robustly covered against insurable scenarios and that, in the event of a major loss, the restoration of the facilities can be financially managed, and debt service can be maintained. Here, we bring our experience from large projects and arrange insurance coverage in line with the lenders' requirements. Our many contacts in the banking world and our experience in the non-recourse project finance sector helps us in this regard.
3. Hydrogen projects are very complex. Who are your contacts on this topic?
For hydrogen projects, we take on an intermediary role in the best sense of the word between the projects and the insurance markets. Many of the technically oriented topics require a translation for the commercial insurance world. To this end, we speak with project developers, equipment manufacturers, technical consultants, investors, operators, and, as mentioned above, also with the lenders. On the insurance side, our contacts are risk engineers and commercial decision-makers, the underwriters.
4. Thank you for your insights! When is the best time to get in touch with these contacts?
We begin our consulting very early in the lifecycle of projects. The general rule is: the earlier, the better. This is because supply, installation and maintenance contracts are drafted very early on, from which liability, risk allocation, and insurance obligations arise for both the client and the contractor. We advise with the goal of achieving a fair—and very importantly—insurable risk distribution between the contract parties. If the course is set incorrectly here, it is almost impossible to correct later. From a technical standpoint, we can already derive recommendations regarding loss prevention and better insurability from the "early design" phase. Our clients appreciate this exchange and are benefiting from increased operational safety.
5. What role does AquaConsult play in this process, and how does it work?
AquaConsult advises clients comprehensively from project development through to operation. We at NW only offer a part of this very broad consulting spectrum. Through the different professional orientations of the partners at AquaConsult, we can combine our consulting with other disciplines, avoid gaps and overlapings, and offer very holistic solutions as a team. The continuous exchange of information within AquaConsult enhances the consulting quality of all partners compared to conventional individual approaches.
6. What aspects of AquaConsult and the hydrogen future are you most excited about?
We see many projects in preparation that are dealing with meshed H2 production and transmission system solutions. It is particularly interesting to see the connection of multiple markets with the goal of building a functioning "European Hydrogen Backbone." This includes the export pipelines from offshore hydrogen production as well. It is very likely that high concentrations of value in fixed assets and in the value creation of the different adjacent producers and transport network operators will arise. In the insurance industry, we refer to this as accumulation risks. Whether sufficient insurance coverage can be provided for overarching risk scenarios remains a challenge that we are eager to take on.
Thank you for the detailed expert interview.
More about the experts: With over six decades of combined experience in the insurance industry, Olaf Weidemann and Matthias Kliesch bring deep expertise in energy, infrastructure, and industrial insurance solutions. Olaf Weidemann, with more than 34 years of experience, is a recognized specialist in engineering insurance, particularly in renewable energy sectors. Matthias Kliesch, holding degrees in both engineering and business, has 30 years of experience supporting companies in the energy sector, specializing in large-scale power plant projects. Since 2023, both have held key leadership roles at NW Assekuranzmakler Düsseldorf.
The Interview was moderated by Lilli von Stengel, cruh21 GmbH
