Opportunities to supply offshore wind power sector

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 15, 2004

A seminar this week in Liverpool will outline opportunities to supply the offshore wind power sector in Northwest England.

Renewables Northwest (RNW), the regional agency dedicated to championing the cause of green energy, is inviting companies in the region with the potential to supply the offshore wind energy industry to grasp an opportunity to reap the local benefits of a GBP 2.5 billion offshore wind energy investment planned for the area.

A seminar on "Opportunities to supply the offshore wind power sector" intended to unveil the vast range of prospects available to the region is being hosted by RNW and Mersey Maritime at the Holiday Inn, Liverpool on Thursday 16th September.

Engineers, fabricators and cable laying companies as well as composites businesses, port providers and ship owners are just some of the many industries which can profit by branching into the offshore wind energy market.

To show the diverse range of skills and services emerging in the supply of the offshore wind sector, Northwest-based companies and organisations are being invited to meet with key industry spokespersons to identify how they can profit from regional, national and global wind energy developments.

Among the range of expert professionals to speak at the conference will be the developers of Liverpool Bay offshore wind farm, Seascape Energy and Hill Dickinson Solicitors, to talk about the legal issues arising from offshore wind farms.

One of the many opportunities freely available for companies in the region is the chance to be listed in RNW's supply chain directory.

Internationally renowned as an indispensable resource for UK wind farm developers and worldwide turbine manufacturers, businesses are being invited to submit their details for inclusion in a new edition of the publication.

Printed in four languages, the directory, which currently lists more than 160 companies, is so popular that a reprint is now required after copies ran out in less than four months.

"This region has a rich heritage as a world leader in energy-related industries", said Helen Seagrave, Business Development Manager for RNW.

"With the Northwest identified as a strategic area for future wind farm development, we are fast becoming a centre of excellence for all things wind-related, and we want to ensure this legacy continues".

Nine out of the UK's 17 planned Round 1 wind farms are to be built off the Northwest Coast.

Seagrave added: "The wind energy market is expanding so rapidly that demand for the region's skills and expertise is rapidly increasingly month by month, especially for manufacturers of composite materials and mechanical components".

"As well as even more Government funding for renewable energy developments, a growing number of industries in the Northwest now recognise the potential to be gained from diversification into offshore wind energy".

"Testimony to our success is that in just under four months we now have to print even more copies of our supply chain directory to meet the growing number of customers' requirements".

Total global capacity for wind power in 2003 was 40GW, and this is forecast to grow by 100GW by the end of 2008, with the UK market ranked at number one in the 2004 Ernst Young Renewable Energy Attractiveness Index.

Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), said: "The wind power industry in England's Northwest is an increasingly important and rapidly growing sector, home to more than 100 renewable energy businesses with a combined turnover of GBP 7 million".

"It is essential that businesses capitalise on the vast array of opportunities that this presents in order to ensure that the Northwest maintains its position as a global leader in the renewable energy industry".

This event has been organised to run in parallel to "The tide is turning", which takes place at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool and is a wider stakeholder management event organised by the Northwest Coastal Forum.

"The tide is turning" event will see the launch of a new coastal energy forum, which will address the project opportunities for renewable energy in the Irish Sea.