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countdown to a record breaker

With the countdown on to what is likely to be a record breaking All-Energy 2010 a leading figure in the renewables industry is urging the North-east to grasp the opportunities the sector is creating.

Morag McCorkindale, of pioneering private-public partnership Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), says the potential is there for Aberdeen City and Shire to be in the vanguard of the global energy industry.

AREG’s chief operating officer said the Crown Estate’s recent Pentland Firth announcement is the latest in a series of industry developments on which the region is well positioned to capitalise through its world class oil and gas expertise and reputation for innovation and business enterprise.

In March The Crown Estate revealed the successful bidders for the Pentland Firth and Orkney marine energy developments – the world’s first wave and tidal leasing scheme.

“The effect of this ground-breaking project is expected to generate huge business opportunities for the North-east of Scotland energy supply chain,” she said.

“It is now more vital than ever that the region ramps up its engagement in meaningful collaboration and focuses on building as effective a supply chain in renewables as we have in oil and gas.

“Not only do we have the assets and engineering and technical skills to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy technologies but many oil and gas mechanisms such as recognised codes of practice, sharing of information and supply chain management are transferable. We have to act now to capitalise on this huge opportunity for the region and, indeed, Scotland.”

All-Energy 2010, the UK’s largest renewable energy exhibition and conference is being held on May 19 and 20 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.

“How to buy a wind turbine?” is just one of the questions to be answered in a special conference session aimed at the farming community on the afternoon of the opening day.

“The advent of the new Feed-in Tariffs is important to the farming community and we know that Jeremy Sainsbury, a Director of Natural Power will be looking at the advantages of the scheme in his presentation and looking at the steps involved in getting a wind project up and running; looking at the range of scales available from ‘supplying own power’ scale, right through to commercial production,” said Judith Patten, the conference Project Director.

“Juliet Davenport, Chief Executive of Good Energy, will be demystifying ‘selling to the grid’ something that many in the farming community would like to know more about.”

Also on the first day the Offshore Valuation Group will present findings of the first full economic valuation of Britain’s offshore renewable resource.

The study explores scenarios to develop Britain’s offshore renewable resource to maturity. The central scenario is optimised for maximum long-term value to the UK from: electricity exports; technology exports; jobs; returns to UK investors; and avoided energy imports.

The 14 members of the Offshore Valuation Group are: DECC, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government, Crown Estate, Committee on Climate Change, SSE, E.ON, npower Renewables, Mainstream Renewable Power, RES, DONG Energy, Statoil, Vestas & PIRC.

Four decades of investment in extracting the hydrocarbon stock of North Sea oil and gas has paid strong financial dividends. While it is well known that Britain’s exposure to powerful Atlantic winds underpins the largest and most valuable marine energy resource in Europe, the value of this second offshore energy asset, has not been quantified.

Early findings indicate the energy potential of the Atlantic asset exceeds UK electricity demand and has value as an enduring export commodity to Europe.

New features of this year’s show, the 10th in the annual series, include a growing programme of “side events” including a series of free market briefings and business meetings throughout the two days in the UK Energy Excellence Centre run by UK Trade & Investment.

There will also be a pre-event wave and tidal workshop organised by EG&S KTN and RenewableUK looking at installation, moorings and connections: a Jobs Fair on Day Two; and an “Education Day” for teachers and career advisers from Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to find out about career opportunities for their pupils.