Energi Coast, North East England’s offshore wind cluster, has recently expanded to further promote the regional capabilities in offshore wind, to help deliver the ambitions of the offshore wind sector deal.
It will also ensure companies are aware of the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership and support available to help them develop further into the sector.
Originally established in 2011 as a steering group, Energi Coast has undergone a major reconstitution and expansion and is now one of eight offshore wind clusters around the UK working to promote the sector.
The group of more than 30 organisations, which is managed and administered by business development experts NOF, now consists of developers, ports, supply chain companies, academic institutions, innovation & research organisations and the two North East of England Local Enterprise Partnerships.
The expansion follows the publishing of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal earlier this year, which sets out the government’s ambition to develop the UK sector as part of its focus on the generation of low-carbon energy. Through the commitments set out in the sector deal, offshore wind could contribute up to 30GW of generating capacity by 2030.
As part of the sector deal, the industry is investing up to £250m to develop the UK supply chain, with aims including increasing productivity and encouraging innovation across the sector.
This has led to the creation of the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership, delivered by ORE Catapult, to support business growth and highlight the capabilities of the UK supply chain to the global offshore wind market
The cluster’s supply chain has evolved through the development of innovative and game changing products and services, which have been applied to the majority of the world’s offshore wind farm developments.
As a result, the Energi Coast cluster has matured to deliver the majority of what is required for an offshore wind farm, both at design, construction, installation and operations & maintenance phase. This expertise ranges from foundations, cables, installation, ports and logistics, training and specialist subsea services.
James Ritchie, Chair of Energi Coast and CEO of Tekmar Group plc, said: “North East England has one of the UK’s most mature offshore wind clusters and Energi Coast is ideally placed to help promote the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership and support the delivery of the sector deal.”
Joanne Leng MBE, Deputy Chair Energi Coast said “The cluster now includes developers Equinor and SSE which are joint venture partners in Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farms and innogy Renewables, which is involved with the Sofia project. Having representation on Energi Coast by developers involved in local projects is essential and demonstrates their commitment to working with local suppliers and other stakeholders.
“North East England has been at the forefront of the offshore wind sector since its inception and we are very proud that Energi Coast will have a key role to play in the next chapters of the industry’s exciting future.”