Companies hoping to win contracts in the GBP 25 billion UK offshore wind farm investment must be innovative and cut their costs to be part of it, over 250 supply chain representatives heard during an event to celebrate Offshore Wind Week held in Lowestoft.
Businesses supplying services, products and skills to help meet the target of at least half the content of new wind farms coming from the UK must reduce their expenses in line with the government challenge to the industry , developers were told.
The UK supply chain was already competitive compared to the rest of Europe, and it has a key role to support the developers achieving subsidy-free offshore wind.
Energy secretary Amber Rudd’s announcement last week that the government would support 10GW more of offshore wind farms with three auctions this parliament if the industry cut its costs was a “hugely progressive step,” a developer said.
Jonathan Cole, managing director of ScottishPower Renewables, told the event at OrbisEnergy, Lowestoft, that the East of England was the centre of the offshore wind industry.
The event came the day after ScottishPower Renewables announced Lowestoft port as East Anglia ONE’s chosen port and operations and maintenance base and submitted its East Anglia THREE plans and RWE Innogy revealed Lowestoft would be Galloper’s operations and maintenance centre.
“The level of interest and enthusiasm in this room is utterly palpable,’’ Cole said.
“You are working in a sector with huge potential that is already succeeding in reducing costs and are on course for £100mw per hour by 2020 and in the next decade it will be between £80-90.” Offshore wind was attracting huge investment capital from new sources.”
Amber Rudd’s challenge put “our destiny back into our own hands and if we can meet these cost reduction targets, we will earn our place in the energy mix for decades to come,” Cole said.
“This industry is hugely flawed if it has a need for subsidy enshrined in its business plan. We should not squander the opportunity we have been given.”
A UK content target of 50 per cent by 2020 – now 43 per cent – was on target with a “huge amount” of “impressive UK companies” among tenders for contracts, he said.
Charlie Jordan, East Anglia ONE project director, outlined the contracting strategy for the supply chain identifying three main areas where projects could make a difference – competition, innovation and skills.
“We are committed to a competitive tender process. We want to exceed UK content and we will be asking suppliers to support that UK content,” Jordan said.
“We will be working with suppliers, skills agencies, educational establishments to up skill people and providing the right training and investing in and looking to sponsor apprenticeships.”