A senior associate of law firm Clyde and Co has said that it is “full steam ahead for offshore wind in Scotland”.
Mark de la Haye, who previously worked on the London Array offshore wind farm, the largest in the world, made the comments at the ‘Essential Oil and Gas Legal Update’ event held by the firm in Aberdeen.
His comments came two days after a ruling from the Scottish courts paved the way for £10billion of offshore renewables development.
He added: “Offshore wind in Scotland is very much open for business.”
The UK currently produces the most offshore wind power of any nation in the world, and has 40% of Europe’s installed capacity.
Mr de la Haye told those in attendance that there were opportunities for offshore wind producers in countries across the world.
He said: “China has really gone for it. They have seen what is going on in Europe and they want to not only do what the rest of the world is doing, but to do it bigger and better.”
He said there were numerous opportunities for oil and gas companies to transfer their expertise to offshore wind.
But he added that companies could face challenges as wind farms start to move further offshore.
He also identified a competitive marketplace, risk-averse investors and difficulties with contract forms as other potential issues.
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