More British businesses can supply offshore wind projects if procurement is done differently, a newly published report from Vattenfall has highlighted.
In its ‘Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas Offshore Wind Supply Chain: Opportunities and Expectations Workshop’ report Vattenfall has outlined approaches to help the UK offshore wind industry to increase local content.
To achieve the Offshore Wind Sector Deal target of 60% UK content by 2030, “top down bottom up” commitment and action was needed across the sector, the study stated.
“This would need developers to engage earlier and better with a collaborative and more ‘joined-up’ supply chain,” said the report.
Vattenfall gathered feedback from more than 580 companies that took part in over 20 events organised by the developer during planning for its 3.6GW Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas projects off the east coast of England.
The 24-page report calls for longer term planning for projects, more transparency and a “better understanding” across the supply chain of how the sector works as well as earlier engagement to support businesses in preparing for winning tenders.
The report asks the government for a “clear framework and plan” for energy transition, encouragement and monitoring of local content, more support for UK companies working overseas, support for, and clarity on, rules for microbusinesses and SMEs and investment in skills.
Developers are asked to support and award framework agreements, earlier procurement engagement and decisions, develop standardised codes of practice and share skills needs and health and safety requirements across markets.
Following supply chain feedback about how the system could work better for UK businesses, Vattenfall said it has “already promised to share information early about potential opportunities, its contract strategy, be clear about its terms and conditions and facilitate sector-wide collaboration”.
Vattenfall said it hopes other developers will follow and work together in an environment conducive to long-term investment planning and investment.
The report will now to be shared across government, developers, tier one and two companies and the rest of the supply chain.
Vattenfall supply chain manager Rob Lilly said: “Our interaction with the supply chain has demonstrated the collective desire to deliver innovative, efficient, sustainable advances in technology for the next generation of renewable energy generating projects, while also contributing to the goals of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, UK industrial strategy and clean growth.”
“The over-riding message from established and potential supply chain companies is that they would benefit from longer term planning and better understanding of how the sector works as a whole.”
Vattenfall is anticipating consent in June and November to build the Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas projects. The company brought together more than 60 businesses at Lowestoft last November, introducing tier one contractors to small and medium-sized businesses in the East Anglia cluster to learn about their capabilities.
Key issues for businesses wanting to work in the sector included the current project-by-project approach to procurement and construction rather than by portfolio or “bundling” projects.
The current system meant “globally active tier one companies are “currently better able” to manage the peaks and troughs of this system than more locally-based small and medium businesses, highlighted Vattenfall’s report.
Smaller enterprises said they were also “disadvantaged in meeting tier one expectations” because engagement “only happened after developers were awarded Contracts for Difference and final investment decisions had been taken”, the study noted.
More SMEs could win work if a more consistent supply chain workflow was achieved, moving away from the current ‘bid-award-construct’ model with peaks and troughs of activity, the report stated.