Events to showcase work of small and medium enterprises in economy and climate change fight
The 2020 Scottish Renewable Energy Festival launches today (October 26) with a focus on small businesses and the contribution they make to Scotland’s economy and climate targets.
The Festival, now in its second year, provides an opportunity for businesses in Scotland’s £5.5 billion-a-year renewable energy industry to shine a light on the projects, people and places which are leading the shift to a clean energy future.
Scottish Renewables is holding a Renewable Energy SME Roundtable event with Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse MSP on November 4 to give small and medium enterprises the chance to showcase their successes to The Scottish Government.
Throughout the Festival the industry body will also be running a social media campaign on SME businesses, with new analysis showing almost six in 10 of its 260 member organisations employ fewer than 250 people, meaning they fall into that category.
Nick Sharpe, Director of Communications and Strategy at Scottish Renewables, said:
“The SMEs in Scottish Renewables’ membership show every day how vital their contribution to the fight against climate change – and to strengthening Scotland’s economy – is.
“These businesses are typically lean, innovation-driven powerhouses which are pushing the boundaries to make often-unique business models work. SMEs in Scotland employ an estimated 1.2 million people, and in our industry that means providing employment in remote areas where their impact is even more keenly felt.
“The 2020 Scottish Renewable Energy Festival provides a chance for these firms to showcase their achievements, and for Scottish Renewables to continue its work helping them to do so.”
The most recent figures show there are 354,125 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Scotland, providing an estimated 1.2 million jobs. SMEs accounted for 99.3% of all private sector businesses, 55.4% of private sector employment and 41.5% of private sector turnover as of March 2019.
Businesses attending the Renewable Energy SME Roundtable event include:
Orbital Marine Power, Orkney
- …is an innovative engineering company working on the development of revolutionary tidal turbine technology. Its latest design, the Orbital 02 2MW, is the most technologically-advanced tidal turbine in the world and once deployed will have the potential to generate enough clean power to meet the annual demand of over 1,700 UK homes.
Gravitricity, Edinburgh
- …is developing an energy storage system to bridge the gap between smaller-scale electrical storage devices and pumped storage hydropower. The novel storage system uses excess electricity to winch multiple heavy weights in a vertical shaft to charge the system. These weights can then be released when energy is required, turning the winches into generators.
MacArthur Green, Glasgow
- …an environmental consultancy providing a range of services including ornithology, ecology, peat survey and analysis and policy advice. The organisation works across various renewable energy technologies including onshore wind, offshore wind and hydro. The company has committed to offsetting twice its carbon footprint by investing in various carbon offsetting projects, making them a carbon-neutral organisation.
Apollo Engineering, Aberdeen
- …is an engineering and project management services company working across the energy industry. With experience in renewable energy technologies including wind, wave and tidal, the company works with its partner Global Energy Group to offer a single point of contact for engineering procurement and construction services.
ABEI Energy, Edinburgh
- …fully manages all areas of its energy generation projects, from development and financing through to commercialisation. Continually analysing the market’s demand for power allows ABEI to develop a competitive price strategy. The company has more than 15 years of experience across Europe and America, with more than 3.5GW of renewable energy deployed in wind power, solar PV and hydro.
Locogen, Edinburgh
- …offers consultancy and contracting services to clients through direct investment in projects and technology solutions with its partners. The Edinburgh-based company operates across renewable power, low-carbon heat and low-carbon transport, offering a full range of services to develop, build and operate technologies from concept through to decommissioning.
GreenPower International, Alloa
- …is one of the UK’s leading independent renewable energy developers. With substantial experience in the renewable energy sector, the technical, management and financial skills of the development team successfully bring many complex projects to fruition. GreenPower has achieved consent for over 260MW of clean renewable energy capacity and operates projects ranging from hydro schemes and single wind turbine sites to utility-scale commercial wind farms.
Green Marine, Orkney
- …works on solutions for the safe deployment, maintenance and removal of a wide range of tidal and wave energy devices and subsea installations. The company has an impressive range of versatile vessels and a highly-skilled engineering department allowing the delivery of quality marine services across the UK and throughout Europe.
Intelligent Land Investments Group, Hamilton
- …is on a mission to develop 2GW of pumped storage hydro and over 500MW of utility-scale battery storage to enable more renewable energy projects to access the system and help balance the grid. It has worked with more than 600 landowners across Scotland, from single turbine projects to large-scale wind farms.
Presserv, Aberdeen
- …offers unique preservation and corrosion protection solutions for its clients across a range of sectors. It is engaging with the renewable energy sector, particularly onshore and offshore wind, to develop solutions for complex corrosion issues.
