UK Offshore Wind Supply Chain Seminar 2010

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Text by Alexandra Hayles

The UK Offshore Wind Supply Chain Seminar 2010 took place on 28th October in Copenhagen

The UK government’s support for developing the UK’s port infrastructure in order to pave the way for offshore wind manufacturing in the UK, was clearly stated at the seminar in Copenhagen. Among the presentations was the Crown Estate supporting offshore wind and exposing available areas for development. Speakers talked through their experience, know-how, and commitment, as well as highlighting opportunities for the organisation of offshore consortium projects, purchasing, manufacturing, and available real estate.

It was clear to see that the UK is seeking to attract the Danish supply chain because of its maturity. Though Vestas’ presentation seemed to languish in the past, the overall impression created by the conference participants was one of optimism, energy and a strong will to increase the capacity of the offshore wind industry in Europe. The speakers personalities came across through their presentations, challenging the audience to embark on this enormous and complex project. The UK port authorities and coastal land developers presented their case with a no nonsense approach. It was, however, felt that the UK government’s financial commitment of £60million to the UK’s port infrastructure was inadequate. Despite this, the will to increase offshore wind was clear with the target set at producing 30% of the electricity supply from wind energy by 2020 - 2.5% of total UK energy will come from renewables.

Paving the way is the UK government’s commitment to creating a stable, ‘predictable’ regulatory environment. The Infrastructure Planning Commission underlined the processing of applications within 12 months. Trumping this initiative is the Scottish authorities push for an 8 months administrative process.

The uncharted territory of offshore wind presents opportunities for other players with experience in the marine and aerospace industry. David Brown Gear Systems presented their case. With the political framework, commercial opportunities and technological challenges setting the scene; Siemens then presented the financial developments taking place in the industry. With private developers in the market the focus is shifting from pure balance sheet accounting. As agreements become more sophisticated between utilities and companies, the options and opportunities for developing the offshore wind infrastructure increase.

This is a colossal endeavour that is gathering momentum. There are question marks in terms of environmental concerns. Edp Renováveis a European purchasing organisation pointed out that construction work could have consequences for marine life: they were currently investigating the use of air walls to reduce some of the noise.

As one of the participants mentioned to me, “we are set to build a huge amount of cars...” (i.e. the amount of energy production) “...but the motorways are not there yet” (i.e. the power grid infrastructure). The unprecedented vision to supply Britain with 40GW of offshore wind energy offers exciting new opportunities and a massive challenge. This is not just a UK challenge but a European enterprise with countries such as Germany also expanding their offshore wind industry at a cost of about £3 billion per GW installed capacity.