Record attendance for major conference and exhibition as Offshore Wind industry descends on North East England

More than 700 professionals from the offshore wind industry came together in North East England for a major conference and exhibition, which welcomed major developers and representatives from across the supply chain.

Offshore Wind North East (OWNE), which took place on 7 November at the Eagles Arena in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, also attracted more than 90 exhibitors and in excess of 60 speakers who took part in a range of presentations and panel discussions.

One of the biggest attractions of the conference and exhibition was the opportunity to meet and hear from wind farm developers, including those delivering Sofia and the three Dogger Bank developments, Creyke Beck A, Creyke Beck B and Teesside A, to discover the next stages of these projects and the engagement required with the supply chain.

Delegates heard from innogy Renewables UK, Dogger Bank Wind Farms, SSE Renewables, Moray West Offshore Wind Farm, Vattenfall, Ørsted, and EDF Renewables. There was also the opportunity to meet the developers’ project teams, which were based at strategic event partner lounges located on the exhibition floor.

In addition, delegates also had the chance to meet with representatives from GE Renewable Energy, which was recently awarded a significant order to provide the world’s largest and most powerful wind turbines for the Dogger Bank Wind Farms.

Set across three presentation theatres, OWNE featured a series of focused panel discussions covering themes such as cross-sector innovation, subsea expertise, skills, planning Operations & Maintenance and heavy fabrication capabilities.

Organised by business development experts NOF, in conjunction with North East England’s offshore wind cluster, Energi Coast, the event was supported by a number of key organisations including Strategic Event Partners, innogy Renewables UK, GE Renewable Energy and Dogger Bank Wind Farms.

OWNE was backed by Regional Event Partners, Invest North East England and Invest Tees Valley as well as other key players in the industry including A&P Group, ORE Catapult, Port of Sunderland, MHI Vestas Offshore Wind and SSE Renewables. The event’s Headline Sponsor was Energy Central along with Gold Sponsors Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and Vilicom Energy.

Joanne Leng MBE, Deputy Chief Executive of NOF and Deputy Chair of Energi Coast, said: “Achieving a record level of attendance for an offshore wind conference in the North East of England demonstrates the ambition of the supply chain to be at the heart of activity in the sector. OWNE proves how strategically important this region is to the industry and to the companies that want to be part of its vibrant and collaborative supply chain cluster.”

“With significant offshore wind developments taking place off the coast of North East England it was also a great opportunity for the developers to engage with the supply chain. Their participation in the event gave delegates with a real insight into the future of their developments and supply chain requirements, both through presentations and face to face discussions in their partner lounges.”