A new group has been set up to make sure Scotland’s energy supply chain companies benefit from new floating offshore wind projects in Scotland and the UK.
It has been formed as a subgroup of DeepWind, Scotland’s supply chain cluster, which is currently managed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to help cement the country’s lead role in the development of offshore wind.
The new subgroup will be co-chaired by Andronikos Kafas from Ocean Winds and Julia Roope from Fugro and involves more than 200 members of the DeepWind cluster.
Scotland is currently considered the world leader in the deployment of floating offshore wind with the Hywind project and the soon to be completed Kincardine wind farm.
The combined capacity of these projects, at 80MW, puts Scotland at the top of the floating offshore wind league and, with plans to scale up to commercial projects in the forthcoming ScotWind leasing round.
It is hoped as a result Scotland will be a magnet for this emerging sector for some time to come.
The aim of the new subgroup is to develop close ties with centres of innovation, such as the Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence and the Carbon Trust’s Floating Offshore Wind Joint Industry Project.
This is to ensure the supply chain can be directly involved in the commercialisation of new technologies.
Andronikos Kafas, new offshore opportunities manager from Ocean Winds, said: “We are excited to announce and co-chair the launch of the DeepWind FOW subgroup. OW is committed to DeepWind’s success and support programmes to bring developers and their Tier-1s closer to regional supply chain.
“The subgroup is currently the only floating offshore wind forum for direct discussion between developers/tier ones and the tiers two/three (typically where most local content lives).
“The aim of the subgroup is to assist the sector and parent DeepWind group with horizon scanning, opportunity setting, and capacity building of Scottish companies, under the auspices of economic development agencies”.
Julia Roope, Fugro’s Global business development manager for Offshore Wind, said:
“The launch of the DeepWind FOW subgroup is a significant step in recognising the importance that floating technology plays in the future of offshore wind generation in Scotland and in supporting the UK’s leading role in offshore wind development. As co-chair, Fugro’s extensive offshore wind experience will be used to help our members develop supply chain opportunities, support the development of the skills needed to grow the sector, and foster the development of new technology through close ties with centres of innovation.”
