Humber to stage international offshore wind conference

The Humber has seen significant developments and growth in the renewable sector over the past few years and is slowly undergoing a transformation into a key player in the North Sea offshore wind arena. With the launch of the Humber Renewables brand earlier this year, Siemens’ Green Port Hull plans being given the green light, Dong Energy’s order of 300 Siemens wind turbines and SMart Wind’s latest phase of consultation on the Hornsea round 3 zone, the Humber is well placed to stage an international offshore wind conference positioning the region as a hub for the offshore wind market.

In association with Team Humber Marine Alliance, The North Sea Offshore Wind conference will take place on the 10th October in Hull, and will be the platform for the Yorkshire and Humber and UK offshore wind community to meet and discuss issues and opportunities in the supply chain, including manufacturing, and operations and maintenance.

This year’s partner country is Norway and the event will welcome a Norwegian delegation, led my Windcluster Mid-Norway, Norwegian renewable networking organisation Intpow, Norwegian offshore wind cluster Arena NOW, and Innovation Norway.

Viggo Iversen, General Manager for Windcluster Mid-Norway said:

“The UK is an important market to Norway, which has been emphasised recently by the Norwegian and UK’s governments renewed partnership to secure affordable and sustainable energy supply.  Norway has a lot of experience and knowledge and is investing heavily in new technologies but also sees that it is crucial to develop close working relationships within the supply chain and particularly with the UK.

“We are delighted to be coming to the Humber to undertake site visits and participate in the conference.  The speaker line-up looks great and the opportunity to sit down on a one-to-one basis with other delegates is a real added value.”

The event will consist of a conference, pre-arrange one-to-one meetings and culminate in a gala dinner.

Confirmed speakers include The Crown Estate, SMart Wind, Forewind, RES Offshore, Windcluster Mid-Norway, InTurbine, Reef Subsea Technocean, and Fedem Technology.

Steve Clarke from SMart Wind said:

“SMart Wind is pleased to be supporting this overseas inward mission to the UK. Tangible cost reduction will be key to delivering the Projects within our Hornsea Zone and the UK industry growth in general. One way of reducing cost is to accelerate the route to market of new cost-effective innovations and technologies. This North Sea Offshore Wind conference and brokerage activity provides a great platform for building effective collaboration between Norwegian Technology companies with deep-water oil & gas experience, and UK companies looking to secure a greater share of the domestic market through competitive advantage.“