A helping hand to grow Scottish success in the global offshore wind market

Produced for SOWEC by Scotia Supply Chain, this guide aims to appraise current and prospective Scottish exporters of the main offshore wind opportunities between now and 2030, with markets scored against a number of relevant issues to give an attractiveness rating for exporters.

SOWEC industry co-chair Brian McFarlane said: “With rapid growth in offshore wind here in Scotland, the time has never been better for prospective Scottish exporters to use experience gained at home as a springboard to the global offshore wind market. As we have seen in other energy sectors, Scottish companies can see opportunities to export offshore wind products and expertise into other emerging markets. By forecasting deployment and assessing different markets, this guide is intended to enable Scottish exporters to identify and access the global wind market quickly.”

David Rennie, Global Head of Energy at Scottish Development International, said “Scotland is a world leader in subsea engineering and offshore wind and the new guide from SOWEC will support companies to make more effective global export decisions. This allows Scottish businesses to lead the way internationally on many more energy transition projects and show how Scotland’s innovation can turn the tide towards net zero.

“I also welcome the additional reports that highlight a streamlined tender process for the Scottish supply chain and this links to work taking place across the industry through clusters and more to ensure companies across Scotland from manufacturing to tech can reach new markets and deliver a greener economy.”

 Alongside the Export Guide, today SOWEC is also releasing research reports looking at what steps can be taken in Scotland and the UK to support Scottish supply chain companies win work from a next generation of Scottish projects. Expert consultancy BVG Associates has provided SOWEC with analysis and recommendations to inform industry coordination on options of shared procurement portals, pre-qualification criteria and standardised terms and conditions.

This resource is now being reviewed by SOWEC’s Supply Chain and Clusters Group, in cooperation with the Offshore Wind Energy Council.

Supply Chain and Cluster lead for SOWEC Stephen Thompson, said: “Helping Scottish and UK Supply Chain companies get more enhanced visibility of opportunities to bid for offshore wind contracts is an important part of SOWEC’s work.

“SOWEC has agreed to work in partnership with a range of relevant parties to consider the options linked to BVGA’s recommendations across: supplier pre-qualification; standard sets of terms & conditions; an opportunities portal and other tools for identifying future project requirements. These parties include Scottish Renewables, RenewableUK and the Offshore Wind Industry Council – the latter with whom we are currently progressing an assessment of options linked to the opportunities portal specifically.  

“SOWEC is keen to coordinate with other complimentary initiatives and wants to see a joined up effort to track opportunities across Energy Transition. Scottish suppliers work across different parts of our industry so offshore wind also needs to support action to bring visibility and opportunity across the energy and maritime sectors.”

• Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council releases new guide: Offshore Wind International Export Markets – a guide for Scottish Exporters
• Scotland has ambitions to deliver 11GW of offshore wind by 2030, but the global opportunity is at least 10x greater than the Scottish market
• SOWEC’s new export markets guide helps Scottish companies better understand the main global offshore wind markets, and assess which ones offer the best export opportunities
• SOWEC is also working on ways of addressing barriers to Scottish supply chain companies pre-qualifying and learning about tender opportunities, with new studies now published assessing options for streamlining pre-qualification, establishing a common adverting portal and standardising terms and conditions
• Industry hopes to build on reports published today to inform sector discussions on route forward to widening awareness of tender opportunities.