Offshore wind will breathe fresh life into Scotland’s economy

Scotland has Europe’s most diverse and vibrant energy sector, from the mature North Sea oil and gas fields to word-leading research in offshore wind, marine energy, and clean coal and fuel cell technologies.

Some of the biggest economic opportunities in the future will be from developing a globally competitive industry based on our renewable and low carbon energy resources.

While our strengths in the sector undeniably range from wave and tidal resources to the development of clean technologies; offshore wind perhaps offers the most immediate opportunity we’ve had in decades to really transform Scotland’s economy. 

Over 25% of all Europe’s wind resource crosses the Scottish land mass and its surrounding areas. The scale and nature of the offshore wind opportunity is significant with the UK boasting the capacity to generate more than 48 Gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2020, making it the number one market worldwide for offshore wind.

These strengths, coupled with the Scottish Government’s challenging targets which will see 50% of our electricity generated from renewable sources by 2020, puts Scotland in pole position to become an important global hub for offshore wind development.

Developers from all over the world have been drawn to Scotland by its strengths and its clear that these opportunities offer huge economic potential both in terms of creating new jobs and new wealth for Scotland’s economy but we must move quickly to maximise our share of the market..  

The Scottish Government are working with the industry to develop the Offshore Wind Route Map, which will identify a number of issues that need to be addressed both by the public and private sector if we are to unlock Scotland’s offshore wind potential. 

In simple terms, there are a number of priority areas which require an immediate focus.  Supplier development, essential infrastructure, inward investment, innovation, funding, planning consents, grid capacity and skills are all critical to our ambitions for establishing a world class offshore wind industry.

Already we boast a significant competitive advantage in many of these areas, but some gaps do exist and it is imperative that we build on our existing edge.

Significant opportunities exist across each of the four main elements of the supply chain – design, build, operation and decommissioning.

There are currently around 65 companies in Scotland supplying the offshore wind industry, but many more boast the essential skills and expertise to maximise Scotland’s offshore potential.   

Our excellence in project management and design, many of these skills honed in the oil and gas and engineering sectors mean we already have what it takes to brings these significant developments to fruition quickly and manage them efficiently and effectively.

Such a rich history means we have the health and safety expertise as well as the support vessels and port infrastructure to provide operations and maintenance.

Our capabilities in the manufacture of turbine components; foundations; subsea cables and connections and the developing experience that will be needed for future decommissioning effectively makes Scotland the ideal breeding ground for offshore wind projects throughout their entire life cycle.

Infrastructure development is an obvious fundamental to the successful attraction of potential investors.  The publication of the Scottish National Renewable Infrastructure Plan earlier this year was a major first step in identifying the locations across Scotland which offered the biggest potential for developers to base their manufacturing operations.

The next stage of the plan, which will be complete by the end of June, will develop robust propositions and focus on investment opportunities that will help us to accelerate infrastructure development at the identified sites to ensure we’re fully prepared for exploiting the upcoming opportunities.

If Scotland is to make the most of this incredible opportunity we must be fleet of foot and put in place the necessary funding and support that will increase levels of R&D, develop the right infrastructure and support our companies to target new opportunities.

The economic prize is significant, the opportunities are imminent and Scottish Enterprise is committed to doing all it can to expedite Scotland’s progress in cementing its position as a world leader in offshore wind development.