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Oil and gas industry holds key to creating renewables supply chain

Aberdeen City and Shire must exploit its leading oil and gas expertise to build an industrial-scale renewables supply chain in the region. This is the call that will be made at an Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) event to be held at Offshore Europe today (Sept 7).

Scottish Enterprise will join industry leaders from Senergy, DOF Subsea and will highlight the significant opportunities that are rapidly emerging in offshore wind and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Morag McCorkindale, chief operating officer at AREG, said: “Offshore Europe provides an important platform for reinforcing the need for collaboration between both sectors - locally, nationally and internationally. Past success stories are indicative of the achievements and mutual benefits which can be achieved between these complementary industries.

“Aberdeen City and Shire is well positioned exploit the opportunities and create as effective a supply chain in marine renewables as it has in oil and gas. The region has a world leading concentration of energy expertise with more than 900 energy businesses. Our base of expertise spans everything from project management and world-beating technology to products, services, recognised codes of practice and sharing of information and is transferable to renewables.”

The AREG event is being co-hosted by regional economic development body Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (ACSEF) and sponsored by Tyco Fire and Integrated Solutions.

David Rennie, director of oil & gas/thermal generation & CCS at Scottish Enterprise, will give an overview of supply chain opportunities in offshore wind and CCS. John McCurry, CCS business development manager at diversified energy services company Senergy, will further explore CCS opportunities while DOF Subsea’s vice president Kevin Moran will highlight the merits of the oil and gas supply chain for offshore wind.

“The skills and know-how of the oil and gas sector, developed over many decades, will help to drive the emerging offshore wind sector and many of the firms exhibiting at Offshore Europe are already demonstrating such a crossover,” said Mr Rennie. “This event will provide more information on the opportunity within offshore wind and where the most significant opportunities for the oil and gas sector are. Scottish Enterprise is delighted to work with AREG and other partners to highlight such opportunities.”

Mr Moran said that with the UK’s long-established offshore construction experience in the UK, there is undoubtedly a role for the oil and gas expertise in offshore renewables. “The challenge for oil and gas is to figure out what parts of their experience is relevant,” he said. “To facilitate this, it is important bodies such as AREG and ACSEF provide a route map for oil and gas into this new industry. It is not just about a simple technology transfer but is about building on experience to develop and deliver new and innovative construction methods in conjunction with the power industry.

“Neither the power nor the oil and gas industries have all the answers but the UK and Scotland in particular have the foundations in place to get the required megawatts delivered at a cost that is competitive and comparable with other methods of electrical generation. It is important therefore to collaborate and encourage dialogue between the industries at events such as this.”

Mr McCurry explained why the oil and gas industry’s expertise is vital to harnessing the North Sea’s significant CCS potential in the most effective and cost-efficient way possible.

He said: “For more than four decades, the oil and gas industry has evaluated and exploited rocks buried in the North Sea which are now being explored for CO2 storage. This expertise is fundamental to overcoming the challenges of the CCS sector and unlocking its potential by using innovative technology and techniques. In addition, the oil and gas industry operates within the most expert and stringent health, safety and environmental culture when managing issues in the offshore environment, so there is lots of best practice which should also be applied to the CCS sector.”

The Renewable Energy Supply Chain Opportunities event, which is apart of AREG’s work to build crucial industry relationships and promote the region’s renewables credentials, is to take place at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre at the Aberdeen City and Shire Lounge on Stand 2C20 in Hall 2.

Aberdeen City and Shire is fast becoming a centre of excellence for marine renewables through a number of pioneering projects and initiatives. One of the most notable is the ground-breaking European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EWODC), one of AREG’s flagship projects. A consent application has been submitted to Marine Scotland for the project which would accelerate the development of offshore wind power by proving the next generation of technology in a real time offshore environment.

AREG is a pioneering private-public partnership which aims to position the region as a global energy hub with a reputation for delivering renewable energy innovation. Its membership, which has soared to more than 180 members, spans the full range of renewable energy expertise from onshore and offshore wind, marine and hydro, bio, solar, geothermal energy and hydrogen and fuel cells.

For more information about AREG, visit www.aberdeenrenewables.com

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