Developing the UK wind sector

The roundtable discussion focused on existing energy supply issues, the growth in job prospects and regional economy, as well as new opportunities for the renewable energy industry.

“Government and cross-party support and encouragement in driving the innovation for cost reduction and job creation is great news for GEV Wind Power,” said Alastair Gadney, projects director.

GEV plays a vital role in the future of the sector with the development of its habitat structure to enable engineers to complete important repair and maintenance work on remote wind turbines in a weather-protected environment. The blade habitat is expected to save the wind energy sector between three and five days lost to weather in each maintenance season. This, in turn, has the potential of returning a 1-2% increase in annual energy production, whilst also reducing the cost of maintenance for operators and owners.

At the discussion, GEV highlighted the need to continue training of wind industry-specific within the UK, rather than importing from otherwise experienced countries; thereby developing national skill-sets in wind to create good quality jobs that will help local economies.

“The Secretary of State was clearly fully engaged with the sector and demonstrated an exceptionally well informed understanding of the multitude of issues across the energy sector. Whilst being pragmatic and forward-thinking, he was refreshingly open to input from SMEs on the improvements that government could introduce, particularly on the support to innovation within the supply chain,” Mr Gadney added.

The Minister also commented on the two most significant changes in legislation brought in, the Climate Change Act 2008 and his own Energy Act 2013, highlighting there is a clear and evident long-term cross-party conviction to support the UK’s future energy requirements.

By Rachael Doyle