Supporting SMEs in the growth of the Scottish offshore wind sector

The Offshore Wind Cluster Builder will support Scotland’s existing offshore wind clusters, DeepWind and Forth &Tay Offshore, in their remit to foster collaboration, drive competitiveness and improve productivity in Scottish Offshore Wind.

The project will do this by delivering a range of services to SMEs including one-to-one support, events, workshops and market intelligence, as well as facilitating collaboration between SMEs and academia.

Xodus will also work to consolidate the offshore wind landscape for SMEs, connecting and simplifying elements of the sector to enable greater engagement by Scottish companies, helping them to capitalise on opportunities presented by offshore wind.

Head of Low Carbon Transition for Scottish Enterprise, Andy McDonald, said: “The Offshore Wind Cluster Builder will be an important project to support the development and growth of the offshore wind supply chain across Scotland. SMEs will have access to services to collaborate, grow and secure business within the offshore wind industry locally, nationally and internationally leveraging Scottish capabilities to strengthen the offshore wind supply chain for a sustainable industry and net zero future economy.

“The new project will align with the work of DeepWind and Forth & Tay Offshore to ensure Scotland benefits from the many opportunities presented by offshore wind.”

David Webster of Forth & Tay Offshore said: “We are looking to build on the opportunity from the growing pipeline of Scottish, UK and global offshore wind projects and the need to grow local content in the sector. We are shaping the resource provided by Scottish Enterprise for the development of a competitive supply chain in Scotland. We aim to increase Scotland’s success in winning orders for projects inside and outside Scotland’s waters and to help support and scale up the Scottish supply chain.”

The ‘Cluster Builder’ project also strengthens Xodus’ offering to the global offshore wind supply chain across the Atlantic, where the company is conducting a similar research project. The Boston team is assessing the local and regional supply chain around Massachusetts and has also recently won work to carry out a related assessment and gap analysis for Hampton Roads and the southern Virginia region.