Twenty businesses in north-east Scotland have been chosen for support under Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s Fit For Offshore Renewables (F4OR) programme.
The latest round of the programme received 48 expressions of interest, from which 20 companies were selected.
One of the chosen companies is CR Integrity (ICR), global provider of specialist maintenance, integrity and inspection solutions.
The latest 20 brings the number of companies in Scotland supported through ORE Catapult’s supply chain growth programme to 49, with 12 already achieving F4OR “Granted Status”.
The F4OR programme is funded by the Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) Ltd and delivered in partnership with the Nuclear AMRC and Opergy.
The selected companies come from a wide range of sectors and include services such as consultancy, engineering, health and safety and asset inspection.
ETZ has been awarded £250,000 to fund the programme.
The not-for-profit company aims to reposition the north east of Scotland as “global leader in energy transition” and delivery of net zero targets and is part of the Scottish Government’s £14.3m North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund (NEERSF).
The F4OR cohort announcement comes in the wake of the ScotWind leasing round results that presents a once in a generation opportunity to drive economic and supply chain growth and job creation within the offshore wind sector.
Andrew Stormonth-Darling, F4OR programme manager for ORE Catapult, said: “The results from the ScotWind leasing round demonstrate a momentous opportunity for supply chain growth within Scotland, particularly in the North East region.
“This in turn gives regional businesses the confidence to facilitate cross-sector business transition, taking advantage of critical expertise and experience in some of the UK’s leading industries to meet the green energy demand.
“The F4OR programme will be there to provide the springboard for promising companies to make the leap.”
The latest regional programme follows the announcement last month of the first national F4OR programme launched by the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) and delivered by ORE Catapult.
The national programme will build on the regional F4OR programmes that have been delivered across the UK.
Applicants for the regional programmes must be geographically located within that region, but the national programme is open to companies based anywhere in the UK.