Aberdeen’s world-class energy expertise has for a decade been recognised as a crucial driving force towards helping Scotland meet its renewable energy targets.
During that pioneering period, Europe’s energy capital has already been successful in transferring its offshore oil and gas experience, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit to the quickly-emerging maritime renewables industry.
Championing the region’s renewables’ cause is Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG).
The award-winning, private-public partnership not only harnesses the area’s vast capabilities but is driving forward projects which are central to Scottish, UK and European efforts to build a sustainable renewables industry in what is already a globally competitive market.
Arguably, the most prominent of these projects is the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC).
This is a joint venture with industry partners Vattenfall, Europe’s sixth largest generator of electricity, and Technip, a leading provider of subsea engineering and construction products and services.
The project has received widespread endorsement from high-profile industry and business leaders as a centre of critical strategic importance to the future of the UK and European maritime energy and the local economy.
It will assist in the security of our national energy supply and accelerate the development of an efficient, cost effective and technologically-advanced offshore wind industry.
The development is pivotal to maintaining the region’s energy-based economy, which already underpins that of the UK and supports 200,000 Scottish energy-related jobs.
Issues surrounding security of supply include the fact that the EU currently relies on Russia for around 40% of its gas imports, and by 2030 the dependency on external gas may reach 80%.
Conventional coal and nuclear electricity generation capacity is also expected to be retired in the next 10 years as these plants reach the end of their life. In addition, a high proportion of the EU’s grid network is now coming to the end of its 50-year operating life.
As a result, a significant amount of network reinforcement is due to occur in the short to mid-term and could impact the wide-spread implementation of renewables projects, including offshore wind.
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