UK oil & gas lured into green boom

ORE Catapult has urged the UK oil and gas sector to take advantage of the growing offshore renewables industry.

Britain’s experience in oil and gas could be harnessed to put the country at the forefront of the offshore clean energy market, which is set to spend £210bn in the coming decade, it said.

“Aberdeen, and the UK as a whole, has extensive experience in oil and gas and the skills base, both in exploration and drilling, could be invaluable to the growth and development of offshore renewables,” ORE Catapult commercialisation manager Andrew Tipping said.

“The value of this should not be underestimated, particularly at a time when the oil and gas sector continues to contend with lower oil prices and a need to reduce operating costs,” he said. “Diversifying into renewables provides greater resilience for companies at the same time as providing an opportunity to take an early lead in what will be a huge global industry.”

The UK’s technology innovation and research centre for marine energy has unveiled innovation challenges for the oil & gas sector today, inviting companies to develop solutions for a number of issues facing the offshore renewables industry.

These follow six broad themes including blades, electrical infrastructure, foundations, operations and maintenance, powertrain innovation and wave and tidal.

“Many of the challenges we’re presenting today are not unique to offshore renewables,” Tipping said. “Similar issues will be faced by oil and gas companies and related subsea sectors.

The emergence of offshore renewables could be Britain’s new oil boom – the potential is absolutely huge.”

Image: ORE Catapult