The companies will form a business segment dedicated to renewable energy - with over 600 staff with engineers and technical experts at 34 locations around the world. Germanischer Lloyd (GL) had already acquired the Canadian wind energy consulting and engineering company Hélimax and the German company WINDTEST, which are experts on measurements for wind turbines and wind farms.

In addition, the offshore wind expertise of Noble Denton particularly in project management for offshore windfarms was added to the GL Group in April 2009.

GL is pursuing a full service approach, with a broad range of consulting services including the optimal design of wind farms, improvement in the performance of existing wind farms, measurement projects (wind resource, wind turbine performance and structural behaviour), inspection and certification of turbines.

"We are now able to provide an even more comprehensive service offering with access to more engineers and this will enable us to enter developing markets," explained Andrew Garrad, ceo Garrad Hassan, who will be the president of the new combined renewables business.