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Forth and Tay Offshore - February 2025
Welcome to the February issue of our e-newsletter, where you can read about industry events and publications as well as activities that the Forth and Tay Offshore (F&TO) cluster is leading or supporting. New membersWe would like to extend a very warm welcome to new members this month:-
You’ll hear more about our new members in an upcoming round-up. Don’t forget to contact us if you’d like to feature in a member spotlight email. 1-2-1 sessions We are continuing to speak with our members in 1-2-1 sessions. These are incredibly useful for us to make sure we provide the right support where needed and make connections with the most beneficial resources. It’s important to us to connect with as many members as possible so please do get in touch with us and let us know how we can help. Feedback or any material for future issuesFinally, if you have any feedback or suggestions for inclusion in future issues, please do get in touch by emailing project.manager@forthandtayoffshore.co.uk / shonaclive@scottishengineering.org.uk . We are continuing to collect case studies for our website, so please do submit these for inclusion. Newsletter contents:
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Invitation to Tender for Front End Engineering Design of Scotland’s first Green Hydrogen Test and Demonstration Facilities |
Image: Design concept for ETZ’s Green Hydrogen Test and Demonstration Facilities- image credits to ETZ Ltd An Invitation to Tender (ITT) has been issued to appoint a contractor to undertake the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) of Scotland’s first Green Hydrogen Test and Demonstration Facilities (GHTDF) as part of ETZ Ltd’s Hydrogen Campus: The deadline for tenders is February 27th. The facility will provide specialized testing spaces and equipment to support the hydrogen industry, including testing electrolysers, valves, flow metre calibration and testing, and other hydrogen components. Energy Transition Zone Ltd (ETZ) is a flagship infrastructure project that aims to accelerate the implementation of energy transition opportunities at a scale that will make a significant contribution to net zero across the region, Scottish and UK economies. These opportunities include large-scale fixed and floating wind farm developments via the ongoing ScotWind leasing round, large-scale blue and green hydrogen production projects and the delivery of a world-class carbon dioxide transport and storage infrastructure. To date, the ETZ Project has secured public funding commitments from both the UK Government and Scottish Governments, totalling £53m for enabling land and infrastructure and a further £5.7m from Opportunity North East for energy sector development. |
Wind Expert Support Toolkit (WEST) from Offshore Wind Growth Partnership |
The Wind Expert Support Toolkit (WEST) from Offshore Wind Growth Partnership is a programme which supports companies to become more competitive within the Offshore Wind Supply Chain. This Business Transformation opportunity focuses on supporting companies in the areas of Business Competitiveness and Building New Capacity. The purpose of the programme is to help companies become more competitive by providing structured business improvement activities and also to encourage more UK businesses into the offshore wind supply chain by helping potential new market entrants to overcome barriers to diversification. WEST is a short term intervention activity which aims to support growth of offshore wind supply chain companies through specialist advice, market intelligence and strategic business support. You are eligible to apply to WEST if your company or organisation meets one or more of the following criteria:
Find out more and apply here. |
New cross-skilling programme supports transfer between oil & gas and wind |
The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), in partnership with the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, is launching a new cross-skilling programme to support worker transferability between oil & gas and wind operations and maintenance.
Supply chain organisations and wind farm developers can now register for the pilot programme. More information and how to register can be found here. |
Registration opens for All-Energy 2025 |
Registration is now open for All-Energy 2025 against a celebratory background. It’s “gala year” in Glasgow as it celebrates 850 years since the city gained Burgh status in 1175 and it is 10 years since All-Energy took up residence at the SEC, in the Scottish city. This year’s show takes place on 14 and 15 May, in the middle of Glasgow Climate Week. Registration includes admission to the major exhibition conference and Civic Reception that is an integral part of the Giant Networking Evening. Find out more and register here. |
UK opens 'shop local' offshore wind bonus scheme |
The UK government has opened the window for offshore wind developers to submit their applications for newly introduced Clean Industry Bonus payments offered under London’s flagship Contracts for Difference scheme. The application window for the CfD CIB scheme, which applies for the first time to fixed bottom and floating wind projects from this year’s Allocation Round 7 and is an eligibility requirement for entry in the full CfD auction, will run for 43 working days until 14 April. The payments will be made at a rate of £27m per GW of capacity applying to the CIB to developers who have pledged to increase the sustainability of supply chains. This could include investing in new factories and supporting highly skilled jobs in economically disadvantaged areas across the UK or choosing less polluting suppliers to build their projects. |
Member blog: Claim R&D Tax Relief for Grant-Funded Offshore Energy Projects |
Fawzi Abou-Chahine from FI Group weighs in on the importance of maximising R&D tax relief for grant-funded offshore energy projects. With extensive experience in helping businesses navigate the complexities of R&D tax credits, Fawzi provides valuable insights on how offshore firms can avoid common pitfalls and ensure they are fully leveraging available funding opportunities. How to avoid common mistakes in R&D tax credit claims. Recent statistics from HMRC indicate that SMEs in the offshore energy sector are increasingly funding their R&D projects through subsidised expenditure, either via grants or commercial contracts. However, many businesses miss out on potential tax relief simply because they don’t realise their grant-related expenditure is eligible. Below are five ways to help you identify if your project costs are suitable for relief, to help you maximise your funding. |
Eastern Green Link 1 enters construction |
Construction has started on a subsea electricity superhighway which will help expand the grid for the future. Eastern Green Link 1, a joint venture between SP Energy Networks and National Grid Electricity Transmission, will transport green electricity for two million homes along over 190 km of predominantly undersea cable linking the south-east of Scotland with the north-east of England. The £2.5bn project was given the green light by Ofgem last year and onshore works are now underway with offshore construction due to start in the summer. At the cable’s two landfall points, Torness, in East Lothian (Scotland), and Hawthorn Pit, in County Durham (England), two converter stations will be built to change the electricity from alternating to direct current – the most efficient way for it to travel long distances. Specialist boats are then used to lay the cable across the seabed and bury it throughout the route before connecting it to the grid. |
Offshore wind supply chain 'can boost profits' |
The offshore wind supply chain can boost profits despite challenging times ahead, according to a new report from Shoreline Wind. The white paper offers an optimistic analysis of the opportunities and challenges facing the sector as the industry prepares to meet ambitious 2030 clean power targets. The global offshore wind sector is on the brink of unprecedented growth, with a record 10.8GW of new capacity installed in 2023, bringing the total to 75.2GW worldwide. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) forecasts that 140GW of new installations will be needed between 2024 and 2028, requiring annual growth rates nearly triple the current pace. With demand surging, driven by ambitious 2030 targets, offshore wind is uniquely positioned to drive a significant portion of the energy transition, the report said. |
Sarens to run major North Sea floaters study |
Sarens PSG’s new Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence in Aberdeen will be the base for a major study aimed at enabling the rapid and cost-effective deployment of floating wind turbines in the North Sea on an industrial scale. The offshore wind specialists have been commissioned by the BlueFloat Energy and Nadara Partnership to pioneer innovative solutions for transporting floating foundations from land to sea. The study will focus on developing methods to deploy completed floating wind structures directly from construction or production facilities to operational sites. It aims to achieve this for production-line scale volumes, spanning multiple operational years. By investigating deployment operations, the study will identify key cost, risk, and scheduling implications and assess the impact of these factors on port infrastructure within the context of the partnership’s projects. |
UK unveils new UXO disposal rules |
The UK government has announced new rules that offshore wind developers should use “low-noise methods” for disposing of unexploded ordnance on the seabed. Low noise clearance, which renders UXO safe without resulting in a high order detonation, will become “the default” option for all future applicants of marine licenses, according to a joint statement from London, devolved governments and associated organisations including Natural England. Policymakers said the switch to “new tools” would reduce seabed damage and injury and disturbance to marine species. |
Ocean Winds launches Scottish skills report |
Ocean Winds (OW) has launched a report on the work it is doing to grow skills in Scotland, detailing the range of driven skills initiatives designed to stimulate interest in the offshore wind sector. The report demonstrates the strong alignment with UK and Scottish government objectives to ensure opportunities for domestic job creation and growth are not lost through skills gaps, OW said. The developer has been working on sector promotion for nearly 15 years, initially via its sponsors ENGIE and EDPR, from early local schools’ engagement and guest lectureships through to today’s strategic partnerships with respected education and training organisations. The report brings together a comprehensive view of the efforts across schools, colleges and universities as well as through the OW workplace. It also highlights a specific example of the effort of OW to address skills gap in fabrication and welding which are critical to the growth and success of a sustainable offshore wind supply chain in Scotland. Read more or see the full report here. |
Join Forth and Tay Offshore and Become a Member |
Supply chain companies operating in Scotland are encouraged to register for free to join Forth and Tay Offshore supply chain directory as a member. With over 300 members already listed, this searchable database is your gateway to customers, suppliers, services and partners. Register your business today here. |
About Forth and Tay Offshore |
Forth and Tay Offshore works on behalf of its members to promote the capabilities of companies and organisations in Scotland in the offshore wind energy sector and supports them in accessing new opportunities in this field. We play a key role in developing a sustainable renewable energy sector in Scotland, supporting our business network and attracting investment.
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