Press Release
SCOTLAND KICK START FOR THE OFFSHORE WIND INDUSTRY SUPPLY CHAIN EVENTS
28 October 2009
The Crown Estate today announced the dates of the three Scottish supply chain events for the offshore wind industry. This developing industry is creating some of the largest infrastructure projects in the world with a potential market investment of over £100 billion. With this comes tens of thousands of jobs.
As owner of the UK seabed we are working in partnership with the four UK governments. The events are to be delivered in Scotland by Scottish Enterprise and Highland and Islands Enterprise. There will be further events held across the UK.
The Scottish dates are:
- Aberdeen: 28 January 2010 (Scottish Enterprise)
- Inverness: 2 February 2010 (Highlands and Islands Enterprise)
- Glasgow: 4 February 2010 (Scottish Enterprise)
These events will act as a ‘marketplace’ to enable all those involved in developing offshore wind sites to do business. A single region cannot deliver the requirements to support the scale of development alone; these events will create the opportunity for local and regional companies to do business right across the UK. Following on from the above dates there will be similar events across Wales, England and Northern Ireland which businesses in Scotland can also be involved with.
The supply chain is in the broadest sense all the elements that will contribute to offshore wind energy deployment including: components; skilled workforce; infrastructure; also the political and economic environment. It is essential for supporting the deployment of offshore wind to deliver ambitious UK renewable energy targets. This is a huge opportunity for the regions and businesses of the UK to play a role in providing new jobs, inward investment and to ensure that we remain the world leader in offshore wind deployment. The anticipated scope of growth is akin to the oil and gas service industry.
The potential jobs growth is significant; research by The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) estimates that the UK wind industry jobs will be in the region of 57,000 by 2020, a considerable increase from 5,000 in 2008. In addition, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) estimates that the number of jobs in the EU wind industry will more than double from 154,000 to 325,000 by 2020, which could lead to significant opportunities for the UK to export expertise internationally.
Supply chain event details can be obtained from:
- Aberdeen and Glasgow
Mhairi Begg
Scottish Enterprise
email: mhairi.begg@scotent.co.uk
telephone: 01224 252 023
- Inverness
Elain Cameron
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
email: elain.cameron@hient.co.uk
telephone: 01463 244 350
Prior Announcements
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