The alliance is represented by leading offshore energy ports across Scotland, which hold expertise across the full offshore wind value chain and are actively developing opportunities to enhance regional competitiveness, drive efficiencies and fast-track the required expertise to support the UK's burgeoning offshore wind industry. This will be achieved by optimising large-scale operations and addressing common & complex industry challenges through knowledge sharing and collaboration.
Having managed over 3.5GW of offshore wind assets, the Port of Nigg is Scotland's Premier Green Freeport Renewables Superhub and is one of thirteen port facilities partnered in SOWPA.
Welcoming SOWPA's launch, Iain Sinclair, Executive Director at Global Energy Group, said: "It is widely recognised that ports have a critical enabling role in the industrialisation and deployment of offshore wind in the UK. Today's announcement demonstrates that ports are motivated to take the initiative, work proactively and diligently together, and align with the whole offshore wind ecosystem, to maximise the localisation of the supply chain requirements.
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"SOWPA's collective capability, knowledge and expertise is a world-leading value proposition. We have a willingness and appetite to enhance our competitiveness, address supply chain challenges and deliver against Scotland and the UK's offshore wind ambitions."
SOWPA is working together to support the delivery of recommendations in recent industry reports from Offshore Wind Industry Council, the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership, as well as the Industrial Growth Partnership (IGP), all pointing to the pivotal role that ports infrastructure has in the success of Scotland and the UK in delivering our offshore wind ambitions and industrial growth.
Sinclair added: "The ports recognise the scale of the potential opportunity on the horizon and are making significant investments aimed at delivering optimised port infrastructure solutions for offshore wind. We can and want to do more, and this is best achieved by aligning the required enabling infrastructure, with industry needs.
"The crucial role of Scotland's Green Freeports also cannot be understated. They will be essential in attracting inward investment and paving the way for new supply chain opportunities, which will have a catalytic effect on the pace of deployment. However, the enormity of the market opportunity and challenges that come with it will require ALL of Scotland's capable ports and their available capacities, to be engaged in the infrastructure plans."
With ambitions to develop 30GW of offshore wind capacity over the next 10 years through the ScotWind leasing round, the future project pipeline will put substantial pressure on Scottish port capacity due to the significant infrastructure requirements needed to support its efficient deployment, in addition to the ambition to establish new critical manufacturing activities.
Recognising this challenge and their role as critical enablers for wider supply chain development, SOWPA's launch provides a clear signal to the industry on their members' willingness to work together with the collective ambition to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind and support the national energy transition.
