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Archive for the ‘Renewables’ Category

Offshore wind - oil and gas experience will drive progress

Tuesday, October 16th, 2012

Offshore wind is a massive opportunity for the UK – not only to meet ambitious climate change targets, but to build a vibrant new industry, create jobs and develop a country-wide supply chain.

The UK is already the largest offshore wind market in the world, with 48 GW of offshore wind sites under way and £200 billion investment predicted over the next ten years.

Tremendous progress is already being made, and this is flowing through the supply chain, with good news on major engineering contracts on a weekly, if not a daily, basis, an increasing number of which are by contractors that have a track record in the oil and gas sector.

This, I believe, is crucial. The UK’s global position in hydrocarbons, and specifically its experience offshore, can have a major impact on offshore wind’s ambitious deployment and cost reduction goals. (more…)

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Scottish renewable energy industry bucks the economic downturn

Thursday, September 20th, 2012

There was a time in the newspapers when it seemed a week didn’t go by without another announcement of a major retailer going into administration or a company issuing profit warnings. Many traditional industries and businesses have not survived the economic downturn but the renewables sector has managed to successfully buck the trend.

Scottish Renewables recently published figures which show Scotland’s renewable electricity industry has delivered capital investment of some £2.8bn since the beginning of 2009. This has helped to grow the supply chain, secure the future of many companies and support more than 11,000 jobs. (more…)

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The Saltire Prize – a challenge worth winning

Monday, September 3rd, 2012

Neil Kermode, Managing Director of EMEC and Deputy Chair of the Saltire Prize Challenge Committee, explains why the Saltire Prize is so significant for the marine renewable energy industry.

The launch of the official Saltire Prize challenge period by the Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon shows yet again the welcome determination by Scotland to make marine renewables a daily reality.

The Saltire Prize challenge is a serious competition. It seeks to force the pace of the development of wave and tidal energy by offering a substantial prize of £10m to the first team to generate 100GWh of electricity from Scottish waters over two years. And 100GWh is a big ask at the moment. That requires a 30MW farm of wave or tidal devices to be installed and run continuously for the two years. (more…)

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First impressions from HIE’s new energy recruit

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012

I have just joined the Energy and Low Carbon team as Energy Co-ordinator at Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) on a one year graduate placement as part of HIE’s graduate training programme. This is a new position which has been created within the Energy and Low Carbon team based in Cowan House in Inverness, and is being sponsored both by The Crown Estate and HIE. (more…)

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Successful launch of Scotland’s 1st Marine Energy Park

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012

Having just returned from a busy two day trip to Caithness and Orkney, to support the launch of Scotland’s first Marine Energy Park and join the UK Marine Energy Programme Board, I have yet again been reminded of how privileged I am to be involved in the development of the marine energy industry.

Yes, a huge amount of work goes in to the planning and execution of such events, as my colleague Norma Hogan (Senior Development Manager: Wave and Tidal Energy), along with friends and colleagues in Orkney, Caithness, Glasgow and London know only too well, but this effort is worth its weight in gold – not least in terms of the additional media coverage our region and the industry secured; the very public affirmation of both the Scottish and UK Energy Ministers’ support for the industry; and (we hope) further building of confidence among local businesses of the opportunities this new industry will bring, but the Marine Energy Park launch and the UK Marine Energy Programme Board also provided the opportunity for us to spend quality time with some of the nation’s leading innovators in marine energy. You can’t help but be energised by their enthusiasm, commitment and belief in the future of this industry, and excited by their commitment to the far north of Scotland.

This may be Gold Wednesday for Team GB but we are now in a strong position to build on our current, undisputed world leading position on marine energy, and work together to ensure that the building blocks are firmly in place to win the substantial prizes from marine energy over the next decade and beyond.

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Exciting times for renewables sector

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks in the renewables sector in Scotland with some big announcements making the headlines, with the promise of lots more to come for this industry.

Firstly we saw the First Minister launch the new Nigg Skills Academy in Ross-shire. This is a brilliant new development for the energy sector in the Highlands and Islands and has been broadly welcomed by the industry as a whole. With funding support from Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish Funding Council and HIE totalling £915,000, the Academy hopes to have 290 Modern Apprentices through its doors in the first year of operation. These apprentices are going to be very valuable to the industry in the coming years, with over 3,000 people expected to have completed training by 2015.

The Skills Academy has seen over 800 applications already, for an initial intake of 23 apprentices. This is testament to how appealing the sector is to people looking for new and exciting opportunities, and with the industry growing so rapidly, it’s great to see this level of appetite.

Since Global Energy Group took over the Nigg Yard in 2011, they have identified a demand for up to 2,000 people over the next few years to help them to deliver contracts in the oil and gas and renewable energy sectors. The yard has already taken on a new lease of life, with the dry dock back in action and home for the next 3 months to Transocean’s Galaxy 1 rig. The major refit will employ more than 250 people and is a big boost to the area, as had it not been for the dry dock, the work would have ended up elsewhere.
(more…)

Posted in Events, Offshore wind, Renewables, Skills | Comments Off on Exciting times for renewables sector

Nigg Energy Park announcement marks new era for energy industry

Friday, October 28th, 2011

I visited the Nigg Fabrication Yard in Easter Ross this week, for the first time since the First Minister joined Roy MacGregor to announce that his Global Energy Group had closed the deal with KBR and the Wakleyn Trust and now were the new proud owners of the Yard, or the Nigg Energy Park as we shall now think of it. The old tired, peeling KBR and Hifab signs were gone, replaced by smart new Global Energy Nigg billboards, with a simple but clever logo that highlights the word Nigg, with a neat design that simultaneously manages to convey waves, Ben Wyvis and the Sutors of Cromarty that frame the entrance to the Firth. Well, to me anyway.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of this deal, for Scotland, the Highlands and Islands, and the wider Scottish energy supply chain. We now have one of Scotland’s fastest growing energy companies owning arguably Scotland’s best deep water energy fabrication yard, and determined to develop it as a multi-user energy park. So from HIE’s viewpoint we have the best of both worlds, an ambitious Highland company now owning a key strategic asset, yet able to offer potential renewable energy inward investors ideal facilities to fabricate, assemble and deploy the new generation of offshore wind, wave and tidal devices that will provide a major proportion of Scotland’s electricity needs over the next 5-10 years.

The yard still looks tired of course, as it’s had no investment or significant maintenance for ten years, and many of the buildings date from the early 70s - and who foresaw then that the North Sea oil industry would still be going strong in 2011, and still expected to be a major oil producer for another 40 years? However Global has ambitious plans to develop the site, open the huge dry-dock, and provide the sort of facilities that will allow a real multi-user site to grow. That’s why HIE is delighted to support their future plans with assistance of £1.8m, support that allows the company to accelerate their re-development schedules, allowing Nigg – and the Highlands and Islands – to maximise the opportunities that offshore renewables offer the North of Scotland.

Posted in Oil and Gas, Renewables | Comments Off on Nigg Energy Park announcement marks new era for energy industry

Energy North Awards highlight the region’s expertise

Monday, October 24th, 2011

It was a real pleasure to be hosting Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s table at the inaugural Energy North awards on Thursday 29th September, not least due to the very pleasant company of our guests – you know who you are! The event really showcased the talent, expertise and leading business capabilities of our region and further served to illustrate the exciting energy opportunities this region offers our people, businesses and economy. Our congratulations go to all the deserving award winners and indeed to all those shortlisted. For the details of the winners visit the Energy North website.

I was particularly struck by the fact that these awards celebrated success across the energy industry, with many of the categories equally relevant to oil and gas and to the renewables sector e.g “Best Subsea Service”, “Best Service Supply”, “Best Export”, “Best Pioneer” and finally the HIE-sponsored Ambassador Award. It is often cited that there is competition between these sectors, but these awards clearly demonstrated that there is already substantial evidence of the two sectors complementing each other and combining to make even more competitive businesses in the Highlands and Islands. We must ensure that such synergy continues to grow as we capitalise upon the projected continued growth in oil and gas activity, and on Scotland’s ambitious renewable energy targets – in both of which this area has considerable competitive and comparative advantage.

Finally, I’d like to congratulate the Energy North team for pulling these successful awards together, and providing an excellent platform for the promotion of the region’s rich energy assets. Good luck to them and the entrants of the 2012 Energy North Awards.

Posted in Awards, Events, Oil and Gas, Renewables | Comments Off on Energy North Awards highlight the region’s expertise

The 3rd Marine Energy Conference

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

The Scottish Renewables 3rd Marine Energy conference last week in Inverness - sponsored by Highlands and Islands - was one of the most vibrant and exiciting wave and tidal events I’ve been at in the past few years. I was delighted to be asked to give an opening keynote. Here it is in full. (more…)

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Thirty five years on……….

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

When I mention to friends, family and neighbors that the Highlands and Islands is leading the world in the development of a whole new energy industry, they tend to look at best quizzical, and at worst disbelieving. I like to remind them that in 1976 Dores bay in Loch Ness was the test bed for Scotland’s first wave device, Stephen Salter’s Nodding Duck. The fate of that technology was contentious, shelved some say as a result of closed door meetings in Whitehall and secret memos from rival technologies. (more…)

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