Nicola Sturgeon tells event offshore wind is “crucial to Scotland’s long-term economic prospects”
More than 800 delegates attending sold-out two-day event in Glasgow
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today (January 25) opened Scottish Renewables’ Offshore Wind Conference at the SEC in Glasgow.
In her ministerial address the First Minister told the conference that The Scottish Government will do all it can to support the success of offshore wind and its priority must be to intensify the work it is doing together with industry to achieve our shared ambitions of a “greener, fairer, more resilient energy system”.
Scottish Renewables’ Offshore Wind Conference, headline sponsored by SSE Renewables, is the industry’s most hotly-anticipated event, setting the agenda for 2023.
A global leader in offshore wind, Scotland has a short-term pipeline of 6.9GW of projects. Following the ScotWind Leasing results announced last year (2022) this week’s conference is focused on exploring the big challenges facing the industry and how it can deliver successful projects with positive impacts for the economy, the environment and local communities.
From thought leadership to practical supply chain advice, the conference is bringing together industry experts, developers, suppliers and stakeholders to review the state of our offshore wind ambitions.
Speaking at conference, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:
“The Scottish Government has just published our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan which reflects our understanding and belief that offshore wind will be essential not only in enabling us to achieve our net-zero ambitions, but also crucial to Scotland’s long-term economic prospects and prosperity.
“Your industry, and the issues you’re focusing on, could not be more important to our country’s future. For Scotland, offshore wind and the green hydrogen industry that you can then help to create offers huge industrial and economic opportunities.
“The need to accelerate our energy transition has never been more urgent and so our priority must be to intensify the work we are doing together to achieve our shared ambitions. The Scottish Government will continue to do all that we can to support your success. The prize – if we get this right – is a greener, fairer, more resilient energy system.”
Claire Mack, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, said:
“Scottish Renewables’ Offshore Wind Conference 2023 is a world-class, must-attend event for anyone keen to play a role in the deployment of offshore wind.
“It’s exciting to see such a diverse set of voices coming together to look at the big challenges facing offshore wind, exploring how we can deliver our offshore wind ambitions and ensuring it is the technology at the forefront of the energy transition.
“It is clear that 2023 is going to be another huge year for offshore wind in Scotland and I’d like to thank the First Minister for taking time to give a ministerial address at today’s conference.
“I’m also really pleased that our innovative ‘Meet-the-Buyer Business Booths’ have been a huge success and this exclusive one-to-one access will bring a new dynamic to how the supply chain is able to engage with developers and Tier 1 suppliers.”
