A “pioneering” supply chain portal has been launched to give companies early sight of opportunities arising from a planned North Sea floating offshore wind farm.
In order to support the Salamander project, developer Simply Blue Energy has opened the Supplier and Innovation Pathway.
It is designed to allow a range of suppliers access to the project at an early development stage.
Simply Blue Energy hopes the initiative will maximise the potential for Salamander to benefit from innovation and for suppliers to develop and scale capability.
The Irish firm is developing the project in collaboration with global energy services giant Subsea 7.
Earmarked for off the coast of Peterhead, Simply Blue Energy holds a majority stake in the pre-commercial floating offshore wind farm.
Rather than entering the ScotWind leasing round, it is hoped Salamander will be considered under a separate process for “innovation leasing and test and demonstration projects”.
Offshore wind companies are under increasing pressure from unions and politicians to use local content in the development of projects.
To date, much of the work for renewables schemes in Scottish waters has been sent overseas, leaving many concerned that the benefits of the energy transition may just be rhetoric.
In a post on LinkedIn, Simply Blue Energy said: “We’ve listened to the #SOWEC report Scottish Offshore Wind Strategic Investment Assessment which highlights collaborative working a total of 53 times. We are pioneering a new collaborative approach to working with the Scottish supply chain.”
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