SPONSORS OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR EXPANSION
Much has been written to draw attention to the significant opportunities for the United Kingdom as a whole, and the Humber region in particular, that are presented by the growth of Renewable Energy production over the next two decades.
OFFSHORE WIND These opportunities are no more dramatically quantified than in the particular sector of offshore wind. Figure 1 shows the changing status of UK offshore wind capacity between 2010 and 2030.
CAPACITY
Figure 1 shows that the installed capacity of UK offshore wind will be approximately 4 times bigger in 2016 than it was just two years ago in 2010; and 8 times bigger in 2030 than in 2016 (i.e. 32 times bigger overall). That doesn’t necessarily mean 32 times more nuts and bolts, or steel ladders, or pieces of lifting equipment; but it does mean ‘a hell of a lot’ more of all these things.
If I was an SME making steel ladders I would be asking myself NOW...
• “How can I make my production capacity 10 times bigger than it is now?”
• “How much bigger will my factory need to be?”
• “Can it be that big in this location, or will I have to move?”
Source: EWEA Report ‘Wind in Our Sails’ July 2011
In truth, every source of renewable energy will experience a challenging degree of growth in the next decades as we realise that carbon, as a source of energy, is unaffordable for economic, environmental and political reasons.
However, the cleanly defined offshore wind sector contains all the lessons that we need to know and master if we are to reap the benefits of this transformation.
CAPACITY AND CULTURE If a company, in any part of the supply chain, hopes to win its part of the economic explosion that UK offshore wind energy production will deliver it will need to ensure that two aspects of its performance are ‘fit for purpose’. These are capacity and culture.
• “What technical investments are available to transform my productivity?”
• “How many people will I need to produce 10 times more?”
• “What competence will my team need that it doesn’t have now?”
• “How much working capital will I need to maintain a positive cash flow in transition?”
10 TIMES MORE
I chose 10 times because, even allowing for the more fierce competition that a 32 times market growth will inevitably attract, any business worth its salt should be able to benefit by at least this much. Also 10 times allows you to picture the ‘scale up’ quite easily.
Even though you can now picture 10 times more machines on the factory floor, 10 times more people in the canteen, 10 times more cars in the car park, or 10 times more raw materials in the store, I bet you have never let yourself indulge such thoughts until now.
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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