The supply chain in the east of England has a huge opportunity to benefit from upcoming offshore wind contracts, according to the new chair of the East of England Supply Chain Offshore Wind Special Interest Group (SIG).
Martin Dronfield, who is also director of strategy and business development for James Fisher, said ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia projects and Vattenfall’s Vanguard and Boreas wind farms offered multiple opportunities for the local supply chain.
Dronfield was speaking ahead of a two-day conference held by the East of England Energy Group in Norwich.
He added that local companies should also have the confidence to bid for project work outside the east of England region. Operational wind farms also offer opportunities in terms of upgrades and modifications.
Dronfield said: “The most important role of the Offshore Wind Supply Chain SIG is to provide a voice and represent the views of the offshore wind supply chain and act as a conduit to raise issues higher.
“It is also to provide a platform to increase business opportunities to come into the region and help to shape the future of offshore wind in the region.”
He added that many of the opportunities are 12-18 months away. The focus in the meantime should be on “remaining competitive” as the industry focuses on how it will meet the auction prices in the Contracts for Difference regime.
“There is concern amongst the supply chain about how this will impact on us and we need to understand and focus our energy on how we deal with it and how we protect the supply chain from being at the bottom end of a rolling drive to simply cut costs, perhaps through an industry-wide agreement to a Supply Chain Code of Practice,” he said.
Image: reNEWS
Suppliers full of eastern promise
By EBS