Offshore wind initiative aims to grow the industry’s annual exports to £2.6 billion

The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) has launched the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP), a  £100 million, 10-year programme to support the growth of UK businesses looking to capitalise on the huge opportunities offered by the growth in offshore wind around the world.

The growth plan comes as part of the recent Sector Deal between industry and government, which aims to increase domestic content in UK offshore wind farms increase from 48% to 60% by 2030, while increasing deployment from 9GW to 30GW.

The OWGP will be delivered by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult which will provide support to supply chain companies to enable them to grow and to increase their competitiveness. The programme aims to support over 650 UK companies to access the domestic offshore wind market, as well as creating further opportunities to enter a global market expected to be worth £30 billion per year by 2030. It is anticipated the annual value of UK offshore wind exports could grow five-fold by the end of the next decade to £2.6 billion. 

The OWGP will be governed by an independent board chaired by Martin Whitmarsh, the former McLaren Group CEO and Formula One Team Principal, who carried out a review of the UK offshore wind supply chain for the Offshore Wind Industry Council which was published in February. Zoe Barnes, a partner at Everoze, a consultancy specialising in renewables, Stephen Burgin, who has held executive roles at ABB, Alstom and GE, and Richard Turner of business advisers Elan Solutions, a former President and CEO of JDR Cable Systems, have also been appointed to the OWGP Board.

The first project is a four-month assessment of the offshore wind foundations sector, the first in a series of studies into various parts of the offshore wind supply chain.
First registrations of interest by companies seeking to benefit from the wider OWGP programme can be made this week at RenewableUK’s Global Offshore Wind conference. The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult will be holding an event at the conference (on 25th June) to provide more information about the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership, including the launch of its new website through which interested companies can register. 

The OWGP will invite companies to apply for support on a regular basis.  The first pilot opportunity is expected to be in September with further programmes starting in early 2020.

Further reading

Offshore wind farm submitted to NIP

Offshore wind leasing round delayed to refine tender process

Offshore wind sector deal: the industry responds

Offshore wind sector launches careers website

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