UK offshore wind industry to conduct supply chain review
A key aim of the offshore wind industry’s vision for 2030 is to foster a world-leading supply chain so it is going to conduct a thorough review to create a concrete development plan for the sector.
Martin Whitmarsh, former McLaren Group CEO, has been tasked by The UK Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) with completing the review which will set out how the industry can deliver £2.6bn in annual exports and support up to 27,000 high quality, well-paid jobs across the country.
“Increasing supply chain productivity will directly lead to lower costs and enable UK companies to seize new opportunities across the globe,” said Mr Whitmarsh.
Encouraging SMEs
Mr Whitmarsh pointed out that another key part of the review is looking at how SMEs can join this growing industry, making sure they understand what industry needs and routes into the sector.
He will be supported by a team of industry experts including Claire Canning from ORE Catapult, Kasper Sørensen from MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, Thomas Ellson from innogy and Victoria Sinclair from ScottishPower Renewables.
Benj Sykes, Co-Chair of OWIC and UK country manager for Ørsted, said that improving productivity across the supply chain will have positive knock-on effects throughout the UK, reducing the cost of offshore wind even further, benefitting domestic and industrial consumers and helping to support other industries as companies across the value chain become more competitive.
Of course, the big prize is in the export market.The ambition is to grow the export value of offshore wind goods and services five-fold by 2030, by which time half of the revenue for UK suppliers in the sector could come from exports.
The review is expected to be completed in Q3 2018.
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