Responding to the challenges of the offshore wind industry: Supply chain constraints

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The opportunity for the local supply chain

The government plans to attract investment from the private sector through a major contract auction scheduled for spring this year, which alone could secure more than £20bn of investment and create 12,000 jobs, mainly in the construction sector, according to the energy trade association RenewableUK. Furthermore, the government has pledged that the rapid acceleration of the wind sector will create “hundreds of thousands, if not millions of jobs” in the next decade.

The government’s commitment to developing offshore wind, combined with the advent of Brexit will mean that the UK supply chain will be drawn on even more to support the construction and operation of wind farms. Companies constructing offshore wind farms currently in the UK were sourcing the high-value end of their supply chain from their own countries, including Spain and Norway, and from low-cost countries such as Dubai, but now there is a real opportunity for leveraging UK content.

Whilst there is no shortage of capital or investor appetite in offshore wind, the pace and scale of the industry’s growth will ultimately depend on the government’s ability to grant new seabed licences and project contracts rapidly.

Acteon’s position

With the growing pressure and demand on the UK supply chain, the Acteon group of companies are well positioned to support developers, installers and operators with this surge in offshore construction. We encourage early engagement with us to ensure maximum project efficiency with minimal interfaces.

Acteon’s companies span the lifecycle of a wind farm project. From six regional hubs, we employ teams of multi-skilled engineers and technicians who follow our in-house training and competency frameworks to ensure they are always up to date with the latest industry requirements and regional regulations.

Acteon has an established and growing offering in the UK wind supply chain with project highlights including:

• Grouting services as part of the installation of the bolted flange monopile TP foundations for UK offshore wind farm
• Specialist pile relief drilling services and personnel for 160 turbine development off the North Wales coast UK
• Innovative foundation solution for a project in challenging offshore conditions

Rising to the challenge

Acteon’s services are in demand for UK projects as well as wind farms that are being constructed across the world. To deal with the demand we are not only building more equipment but also training up more people to take deliver the offshore operations. A key enabler for us to meet the demand is the cross-training and upskilling of our technicians and engineers from our oil and gas service lines to work in offshore wind. Team members who previously would have been offshore on oil drilling rigs are now being deployed on wind farm installation vessels; a workplace they are equally comfortable and competent in.

We believe that every challenge faced by our clients is an opportunity to innovate. The role of our dedicated Acteon Integrated Solutions (AIS) team is to find the solution that identifies, and bridges clients’ needs with what Acteon can offer, and package it in a way that generates value for all involved through attractive commercial models. These solutions connect skills, technologies, products and services and are delivered through a single point of contact under a single contract.

“When the integration of existing Acteon products and services is not enough to solve the challenges associated with wind farm development projects, the AIS team can partner with clients in creating breakthrough solutions that are enabled by digital technologies, technology implementation and research and development advances.” – Andy Seager, Technical & Operations VP, Acteon Integrated Solutions.