Taking advantage of the UK offshore wind market

The conference will detail how attendees can tap into the industry by way of industry expertise, products, services and investment.

Speakers will cover topics such as business opportunities, funding, construction and operation, UK and EU policy, environment and planning and reducing costs.

Keynote speakers will include the Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, Minister of State for Energy and Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Energy, Enterprise & Tourism.

A new report by Pew Charitable Trusts called ‘Who’s winning the clean energy race?’, shows that in terms of bolstering clean energy investment, the UK has jumped from seventh to fourth among G20 countries.

At the same time as this report was launched, the National Renewable Energy Centre and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult announced its merger which will create a new national champion to tackle the development and cost reduction of offshore wind, wave and tidal energy in the UK.

This is a hot topic for the conference and is also the focus for a special feature by our marine renewables correspondent, Peter Barker in the May issue of MJ.

Maf Smith, deputy chief executive, RenewableUK, said: “This good news shows how the offshore renewables sector is maturing. Having Catapult and Narec under one roof is going to help the industry in its efforts to innovate and bring cost down. Narec has world class testing facilities for helping offshore wind, wave and tidal companies innovate and improve, so seeing this expertise brought within the ambitious programme of Catapult is a big step forward.”

It’s exciting times for the burgeoning offshore wind industry in the UK. The UK’s installed offshore wind capacity is actually greater than the rest of the world’s combined.

In March, Siemens announced that it would be employing 1,000 people in Hull – new green collar jobs that should help boost the UK economy in terms of future jobs.

RenewableUK said that this is just the start of things to come for the UK – where Siemens are leading, a cascade of others will follow – causing a “very significant growth in the UK supply chain.”

Something UK manufacturers and operators will be looking to get a piece of.