Date Created: 26 January 2012
Scotland’s largest ever Offshore Wind conference will take place in Aberdeeen next week and is expected to attract more than 600 of the most influential business leaders in oil & gas and renewable energy from across the UK and Europe.
The two-day conference and networking event which is organised by Scottish Renewables and Scottish Enterprise, will be attended by a wide range of speakers, exhibitors and delegates representing the developing offshore wind sector.
"One of the largest events in the renewables calendar"
The programme will include a mixture of plenary sessions, workshop style discussions, presentations and quick fire updates.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond will give the opening address to hundreds of delegates on Tuesday 31 January.
Niall Stuart, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said: “With more than 600 attendees and 50 exhibitors this has, in just a year, become one of the largest events in the renewables calendar.
“The diversity of those exhibiting tells you this is an international industry making its home in Scotland. Companies such as Gamesa (Spain), Kongsberg (Norway) and Simatex AG (Germany), as well as home-grown businesses such as Xi Engineering and Xodus Group, are all looking to create new jobs in manufacturing, research and development and invest millions in communities across Scotland."
Scotland has some of the most ambitious renewable energy targets in Europe and aims to generate the equivalent of 100 percent of annual electricity demand renewables by 2020. In the next decade and beyond it hopes to maximise economic potential from offshore wind with potential for as much as £7 billion of investment and 48,000 jobs.
"Attract further investment"
Adrian Gillespie, director of energy and low carbon technologies at Scottish Enterprise said: “Building on our long industrial heritage and offshore engineering expertise, Scotland is ideally placed to capitalise on Europe’s growing offshore wind industry right across the supply chain.
“In the last year alone in Scotland we have seen R&D investment, diversification, acquisition and collaboration all help deliver strong and steady progress towards building this exciting new industry.
“We continue to support Scottish and foreign investors who clearly understand our competitive advantage and see the potential in our offshore expertise, supportive business environment, academic excellence, and natural resources. I fully expect that the 2012 Offshore Wind and Supply Chain conference will help attract further investment and provide a forum to highlight what more can be done to accelerate growth.”
Find out more about Scotland's offshore wind potential