North-east energy service firm SeaEnergy has launched a joint industry project to drive forward efficiency and technology innovation in the offshore wind sector.
According to SeaEnergy boss John Aldersey-Williams, the whole offshore wind supply chain needs to get together to drive down costs and boost efficiency.
“What is going on at the moment is quite a lot of technology development and improvement with bigger and more reliable turbines and better foundations,” said Mr Aldersey-Williams.
“What we don’t think is happening enough, and what the project is going to be addressing, is that higher level supply chain thinking that is seeking to understand the linkages between choices at one stage of windfarm’s development across the life cycle of it.”
He said by thinking about the whole lifecycle of a wind project, the whole of the supply chain could work together to think of new ways of doing things to cut costs.
“What we are really interested in is asking the question – are the things we can do in capex which will reduce the opex, broaden or increase the revenue line further ahead,” said Mr Aldersey-Williams.
The joint industry and academic project is being led by SeaEnergy with support from Scottish Enterprise and the Offshore Renewables Institute.
Mr Aldersey-Williams said he is interested in hearing from all parts of the supply chain wanting to get involved in the study.
“We are looking to recruit more participants to help the industry think about a more strategic way to achieve its performance targets,” he said.
Recommended for you
