Global Offshore Wind is a well-established event in the international offshore wind calendar.
That is, of course, thanks to the UK’s long-standing place at the top of the table of countries backing offshore wind. This year we are in Manchester, one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution, for Global Offshore Wind 2018. That location is fitting given the industrial scale of our industry.
With the UK out in the lead, our event is a great place for sharing experience with other countries working in offshore wind. A lot of our members work internationally, and we know from our work on exports that more and more of our companies are using the UK as a base for their offshore teams, selling expertise and equipment around the globe. They know that UK expertise is a great selling point for countries wanting to build partnerships with the experts.
The Crown Estate recently announced 3GW of new extension projects, so the UK is pushing further ahead. There is close to 100GW of offshore wind in operation or development around the world, and the UK holds over one-third of that portfolio. That means significant investment, jobs and supply chain opportunities under discussion at Manchester this week.
At Global Offshore Wind 2018 we will launch an update of our 2017 Export Nation report, showcasing the many companies winning work abroad. Those companies will be active at Global Offshore Wind, meeting clients old and new and sharing latest experience and learning. Our government will also be there, with the Department for International Trade (DIT) using this event as its main platform for offshore wind support. Delegations from across the globe are visiting Manchester to learn about opportunities for investment in the UK, and to tap into UK expertise. The partnership between RenewableUK and DIT exemplifies how, when industry and government work together, great things happen.
Another hot topic in Manchester will be the Offshore Wind Sector Deal. The industry has submitted its prospectus to government, and we expect to hear soon about the prospects for the deal. Our industry is certainly ambitious. We want to grow offshore wind so that by 2030 we are supplying 30% of UK power needs from 30GW of power stations around our seas. This 2030 vision typifies the long term thinking of our industry.
With a next generation of projects now in development, the offshore wind industry is serious about investing in communities and companies across the UK so that we embed expertise here at home.
That makes good business sense for an industry that is building power stations expected to generate electricity for the next 25 years. There is no better illustration of this than Orsted and Macquarie’s Race Bank wind farm. Opened last week, the 91-turbine project is the first to be supplied with blades from Siemens Gamesa’s Hull plant. That means not only is Race Bank a significant achievement in its own right, but the blades now generating power out in the North Sea have themselves been shaped, moulded and shipped by a highly trained Hull workforce.
It's great to be meeting in Manchester with so much to celebrate. Our theme this year is Transformation, and it is clear how offshore wind is transforming how our electricity system works, and transforming communities around our coastline thanks to the investments being made.
As Manchester was the home for the birth of the Industrial Revolution, so our event can play its part in supporting the next phase in the transformation of our energy system and the continued growth of offshore wind.
Maf Smith is deputy chief executive of RenewableUK
This is one of a series of blog posts from RenewableUK in the run-up to Global Offshore Wind 2018
