PROBLEM? - SOLVED!
TURNING UK MANUFACTURERS ONTO THE OFFSHORE WIND OPPORTUNITY
PROBLEM
In early August, the government released its offshore wind industrial strategy, which outlines the significant opportunities and support available to enable UK manufacturing companies to get involved in this growing sector.
The ambition is “to build a competitive and innovative UK supply chain that delivers and sustains jobs, exports and economic benefits for the UK, supporting offshore wind as a core and cost effective part of the UK’s long-term electricity mix.” This is supported by the new government requirement that all major offshore wind projects receiving the Contract for Difference subsidy will have to prepare a supply chain plan that meets defined standards.
POSITIVE CHALLENGE The ‘problem’, or rather ‘positive challenge’, is to get UK-based manufacturers tuned in to the sector. To date, a large proportion of supply chain opportunities have gone abroad with only a modest amount of contracts being serviced by UK manufacturers.
SOLUTION
how do we solve this problem? For a start, a manufacturing support programme already exists, MAS (Manufacturing Advisory Service) has been supporting UK manufacturers for over 10 years. In the last 18 months alone MAS has undertaken business capability reviews with more than 12,000 SME manufacturers, leading to nearly 4,000 improvement projects.
GROW:OFFSHOREWIND PROGRAMME During this time MAS has built up significant industrial knowledge about what the UK manufacturing base looks like and what its technical capability is. Link that information to the commercial opportunities being presented to the sector and this is where the new GROW:OffshoreWind programme comes in to help make the linkages and join the dots together. This new Regional growth Fund support programme consists of what is effectively a partnership between MAS and the leading renewable trade association, RenewableUK.
HOW WILL IT HELP?
GROW:OffshoreWind is a service that gives SMEs direct access to market experts, technological know-how through specialist centres and funding support to aid upfront investment.
RENEWABLEUK
Through RenewableUK, we effectively have the ‘voice of the customer’. Its supply chain strategy group, together with its wider membership, consists of key tier-one manufacturers and developers that will help steer the programme.
Dominic Brow GROW:OffshoreWind
Grant Thornton
GROW:OffshoreWind is delivered by Grant Thornton and programme partners the Manufacturing Advisory Service, RenewableUK and the University of Sheffield, all working in close collaboration with industry leaders and Government.
• Upfront analysis of realistic commercial opportunities for UK manufactures will be provided, aimed at giving manufacturers a clearer understanding of the scale of future demand and how they can benefit from it
• A breakdown of the required offshore wind components into technical, commercial and qualifying criteria will help manufacturers to match technical capability and understand market entry requirements
• An initial assessment by
GROW:OffshoreWind advisors will help companies to understand potential supplier performance gaps
• Financial support is available on a matched-funded basis up to £500,000 to help companies overcome these gaps and make them ready for competitive tendering. This funding can support a variety of activities including support for progressing the sector’s innovation challenges of driving down cost and improving on quality and efficiency
BIG OPPORTUNITY
So, what some see as a problem for UK manufacturers we view as a big opportunity for them to access the support available and maximise their ability to win critical offshore wind contracts.
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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