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

The UK’s commitment to developing offshore wind

The UK Government promised to ‘Build Back Greener’ as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. This means a bold target of 40GW of offshore wind by 2030, which, when put in context would require almost £50bn in investment and the equivalent of one turbine to be installed every weekday for the next decade.

With ambitious targets and growing demands on the supply chain, we take a look in more detail at what the UK’s commitment to wind energy involves and whether the supply chain is prepared for the upcoming large-scale projects.

Rapid expansion is required

The expected rapid construction of offshore wind farms will come with a substantial increase in the size of turbines, which will put increasing pressure on the UK manufacturing capacity and supply chain, accelerating the need for expansion. The government is already taking action to facilitate the need for industrialisation with initiatives such as a £160m scheme to bolster large-scale portside manufacturing hubs to manage the size of the new generation of supersized turbines, involving financial support to also strengthen offshore wind manufacturing capability to assist the energy transition. Such initiatives will provide a much-needed boost in port communities which otherwise may face economic decline. Nick Molho, executive director of the Aldersgate Group, a politically impartial, multi-stakeholder alliance championing a competitive and environmentally sustainable economy, said the “much-needed commitment to invest in port infrastructure” should be matched by “a clear focus on low-carbon skills” to help to grow domestic supply chains and create jobs in the sector.

There is a real opportunity for leveraging UK content.

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 for 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 is 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:

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 more people to deliver the offshore operations. A key enabler for us to meet the demand is the cross-training and upskilling 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 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.

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