Chain reaction

Dave March looks at how the success of the first series of Crown Estate supply chain events has set a precedent for the next series

More than 350 people attended the first of a series of Crown Estate offshore wind supply chain events starting in Aberdeen, the European oil capital, showing the rapidly growing interest in the developing offshore wind power industry, in which £100 billion will be invested over the next decade.
Similar events will be held across the UK during February and March. Such was the demand for the Aberdeen event, held in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, it had to be expanded to accommodate all those wanting to participate.

The event provided a marketplace to enable those keen to become involved in the industry to link up with the developers, who are now making it happen in one-to-one meetings and networking.

More than 6,000 turbines up to 180 metres high and with rotors 150 metres across will be sited off the UK coast - 1,300 of them in Scottish waters, which command 25 per cent of Europe’s wind resource. Annual capital expenditure will be 50 per cent more than the oil and gas sector creating up to 70,000 jobs, 20,000 of them in Scotland.

Developments
Round 3, announced earlier this year, involves nine development zones that will generate enough electricity to power more than half of Britain’s homes and include Scotland’s Firth of Forth and Moray Firth developments, which will have a combined generating capacity of 4.8 GW. Scotland has a workforce with unrivalled skills in the developing technologies to capitalise on these opportunities and it has a major advantage in installation and commissioning as well as long term maintenance.

Dermot Grimson, head of external affairs for The Crown Estate was very pleased with the response to the events: “Both Inverness and Glasgow were also oversubscribed - and people are now grasping the scale of the developments.”

He said that following the announcement of the Round 3 developers, they could now get them together with the supply chain and address issues like infrastructure. “People are now beginning to appreciate the scale and the effort which will be required,” he says. “The Crown Estate has invested in excess of £100 million in Round 3 to remove as many of the risks as possible which could get in the way of development.”

www.thecrownestate.co.uk