Aker Offshore Wind and Ocean Winds announced a £235 million investment to support the renewable energy supply chain in Scotland.
The financial package is included in the joint Ocean Winds and Aker Offshore Wind ScotWind bids which would build supply chain capability many years ahead of the introduction of new floating offshore wind fields in Scotland’s deep waters.
As part of a consortium, Aker Offshore Wind has submitted proposals for up to three sites in the Outer Moray Firth with the possibility of generating a combined 6GW of wind energy in total as part of the ScotWind leasing programme, with associated total spend of up to £15billion for all three sites.
Through direct work and supply chain opportunities, each proposal is estimated to generate more than 5,000 jobs and 200 apprenticeships in Scotland across all project stages.
More than 30 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) are now in place across the supply chain in support of the bids and the early action needed.
There is a commitment to 60 percent local supply chain content from the UK, of which 40 percent minimum content will come from Scotland.
The £235 million of early enabling investment also includes feasibility, benchmark, and implementation studies with selected fabricators seeking to establish or upgrade facilities in Scotland, leveraging Scottish supply chain’s competitive advantages through innovation, workforce development, diversity, and skills transition initiatives, and capital investment costs for Scottish infrastructure facilities.
Separately, Aker Offshore Wind is the lead industry partner in a major project to develop wind turbine blade recycling in Britain for the first time, backed by a £2million UK Government grant.
“If we focus on what our supply chain needs and provide it now, we can capture first mover advantage for our supply chain in a number of different technologies and solutions. That’s why we are committed to an enabling investment fund of £235 million,” Sian Lloyd-Rees, managing director of Aker Offshore Wind UK, said.