Dundee has chosen this year’s All-Energy as the launch pad for a drive to capture a share of the burgeoning renewable business.
The City of Discovery appears determined not to lose out to Aberdeen the way it did at the dawn of North Sea oil&gas.
The city’s leaders say Dundee has an appropriate talent pool and, as a regional employment centre, it draws people from a wide catchment area.
The city claims:
Relevant graduates – one of the highest student ratios in Scotland.
A manufacturing tradition, plus it hosts many relevant supply-chain companies.
Two universities and a third within a 15-minute drive.
Large higher-education college offering skills relevant to renewables.
Easy access to a large international pool of workers due to the oil industry.
Dundee also says it benefits from a good strategic position at the heart of the motorway and rail network, and that it is only 60 minutes from “Europe’s Oil & Gas Capital”, referring to Aberdeen.
With the prospect of a large windfarm project (Inch Cape) in the Forth/Tay sector of the North Sea, and having laid the foundations of renewables engagement, the Forth Ports Authority, which covers Dundee, is understood to be keen to capture business.