Greater consensus and collaboration across the public and private sectors is vital in order to tackle the main technology challenges facing the UK offshore renewable energy industry and ensure the UK maintains its competitive edge in a rapidly developing global market.
That is the call from the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult.
The technology innovation and knowledge centre’s study, Generating Energy and Prosperity, highlights the huge potential economic value of a vibrant offshore renewable energy sector.
It claims the UK economy could gain £6.7billion per year and 150,000 jobs by 2020.
Andrew Jamieson, chief executive of the ORE Catapult, said: “Offshore renewables are expected to make the largest contribution to meet the UK’s commitment to providing 15% of all energy – electricity, heat and transport – from renewable sources by 2020.
He says this despite the UK Government backing away from the far more aggressive ambitions prior to the current Tory/Lib Dem coalition.
Jamieson: “Recent announcements of investment in UK manufacturing, such as Siemens and Associated British Ports’ £310million investment in manufacturing facilities on Humberside for offshore wind turbines and blades, are both welcome and a significant international vote of confidence in the UK’s offshore renewable energy industry and ambitions.
“But costs remain high versus return on investment, and that is preventing many companies from investing more in offshore projects.
“To ensure we capitalise on this economic opportunity, we need greater collaboration to develop a collective view on what the key technology challenges are, and where we should be focusing our combined efforts on developing innovative solutions to drive cost reductions.
“It is crucial that industry, academia and the public sector are all pulling in the same direction if the UK is to realise its abundant, affordable energy potential from offshore wind, wave and tide.
“At the moment, the landscape seems a bit fractious, with many different views of challenges the industry should be tackling.
“This will also give the UK a much stronger voice in Europe – helping to channel European funding in technology innovation in the right direction and affording the UK a competitive edge in the global offshore renewable energy market.”
It’s an area that the ORE Catapult sees itself playing a vital role in, making a real difference in bringing together industry, the public sector and academia.
“We have established industry and research advisory groups, with senior representation from across industry and the country’s leading universities respectively,” says Jamieson.
“They are identifying the major challenges to the development of more affordable energy from our offshore renewable energy resources, sharing and focusing the best research in the field and providing clear direction for the innovation effort to address them.
“For this industry to succeed, we need to advance innovation in the sector, recognising that collaboration as well as competition is pivotal to driving down industry costs and creating a long-term, investable industry with government and public support.
“But changing entrenched attitudes and behaviours is not easy. Persuading both companies and academics of the benefits of greater collaboration after many years of competition and confidentiality requires a leap of faith to some degree, but the rewards can be dramatic.”
The ORE Catapult was established in 2013 by the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board to facilitate the delivery of low-carbon, affordable energy from offshore wind, wave and tidal energy. It is one of seven such Catapults set up for high growth industries.
It merged recently with the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) located in Blyth to create what is billed to be a national champion for the development and cost reduction of offshore renewable energy.
Its purpose . . . to accelerate the design, deployment and commercialisation of renewable energy technology innovation, helping to attract overseas investment and to realise the enormous opportunity presented by the UK’s offshore renewable energy resources.
According to Jamieson, since coming together, the two organisations have been working diligently to align what they see as the key technology challenges for the industry, and developing technology and innovation programmes to address them.
SPARTA (System Performance, Availability and Reliability Trend Analysis) is an example of a programme in which the ORE Catapult, in partnership with The Crown Estate, has been working to drive forward innovation and collaboration.
Eight windfarm owner/operators are already participating in the Sparta project, which is establishing a database for sharing anonymised offshore windfarm performance and maintenance data.
Owner/operator participants will be provided with robust and reliable benchmark data for the first time, helping to identify operational improvements and cost reduction opportunities at both company and sector-wide levels.
“Sparta is an example of being able to overcome the issue of commercial sensitivity while fostering collaboration and ultimately driving down costs,” says Jamieson.
“At the ORE Catapult, we recognise the need to guide the process of innovation if we want to address our economic, industrial and social challenges. We can’t allow the process to develop organically because in a globally competitive market, that approach is not fit for purpose.
“We need a common vision and sector-wide agreement on where we should be focusing our efforts. I’m clear that helping to develop that agenda is an area where the ORE Catapult can add real value.”
For readers who are interested in more information about ORE Catapult, visit: www.ore.catapult.org.uk
Jamieson has an advantage over many people on the technology development side of the UK’s renewables sector in that he worked for ScottishPower for a significant period and so has very direct and relevant experience of introducing new technologies to large-scale commercial power generation.
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