A majority of the UK offshore wind supply chain is confident that it will continue to grow in line with the expansion of the renewables market, according to a ORE Catapult survey.
The Offshore Wind Supply Chain Confidence Survey was carried out by ORE Catapult between the end of September and early November this year to establish a benchmark by which to measure future progress in the UK offshore supply chain.
It polled almost 300 UK companies currently focussed on meeting the demands for innovation from the expansion of the UK’s offshore wind industry.
Over one third of these companies were from the renewable energy industry, with 27% from oil and gas and 35% from other sectors such as energy generation, automotive, aerospace and defence, transport and professional services.
A total of 63% of the respondents across all sectors expressed an increase in confidence over the past year in their growth in the sector, although those from oil and gas were markedly less confident than those in other sectors.
Meanwhile, the biggest challenge to growth identified in the survey was recruitment and retention.
The requirement for specific technical expertise and experience, combined with the rapid growth of the renewables industry, is resulting in extremely high demand for key skilled workers, meaning firms face significant challenges in recruiting for such capabilities, ORE Catapult said.
This is as true in oil and gas as it is in renewables, highlighting that, whilst a just transition from one to the other is possible in the longer term, it may prove more challenging in the short to medium term, the organisation added.
A further challenge identified was the visibility of market opportunities, with companies from all sectors stating that they feel they would benefit from improved information available to them regarding market requirements for entering the offshore wind industry.
ORE Catapult Chief Executive Andrew Jamieson said: “Innovation throughout our supply chain has been the single biggest driver to date behind the UK’s phenomenal success in delivering affordable, clean energy from offshore wind.
“The buoyancy of the UK’s supply chain revealed by our survey, despite the current economic challenges, is hugely encouraging and provides a high degree of confidence that we will continue to see tremendous economic and job growth from technology and process innovation in offshore wind.”
Melanie Onn, Deputy Chief Executive of RenewableUK said: “This survey highlights a strong sense of confidence among supply chain companies in the clean energy sector that they will continue to expand as the market grows even larger.
“We can help those companies by intensifying our work to reach out to them proactively, flagging up further opportunities to win new contracts, as well as encouraging new firms to enter our sector.
“The industry is also determined to maximise the number of high-quality jobs we’re creating right across the sector by ensuring that excellent training opportunities are in place for roles at every level.”