Offshore wind opportunities at Humber Gateway

Local marine and renewable energy businesses are to hear first hand about the supply chain opportunities that will be available if the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm gets planning consent later this year.

The Humber Gateway Awareness Event in Scunthorpe on January 28, organised by Team Humber Marine Alliance (THMA), will feature presentations by E.ON, the offshore wind farm developer.

If granted planning consent, Humber Gateway will be an offshore wind farm of up to 300MW and 83 turbines, producing enough renewable energy to power up to 195,000 homes. The project is within the Crown Estates’ Round 2 offshore wind sector allocations, and is currently awaiting planning determination.

Among other speakers, Vaughan Weighill, E.ON’s development manager for the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm, is to provide an overview of the potential project to THMA members and lead a question and answer discussion on the opportunities.

“We expect to outline the type of contracts and structures available during Humber Gateway’s construction and operational phase, including the likely process and timings for procurement,” said Mr Weighill, who will also give an overview of construction work on other E.ON offshore wind farm projects.

Sam Pick, THMA’s sector champion, renewables, said: “We’re keen to facilitate this event as a key part of gearing up the market for opportunities that could arise from this important, and potentially lucrative project.

“This will be a chance for local suppliers to find out first hand from E.ON about the business procurement opportunities that are on the horizon, should the scheme get the go-ahead.”

THMA, together with Yorkshire Forward, will also highlight some of the increasing number of opportunities within the existing port infrastructure and contractor supply base.

In addition, attendees will hear details of the potential offshore wind contract and employment figures connected with the Hornsea and Dogger Bank sections of the recently released Round 3 development sites.

For more event information, contact Graham Billany, project manager at Team Humber Marine Alliance, on 01482 485270, graham.billany@thma.co.uk  

Alternatively, contact Sam Pick on 07917 334357.

For any E.ON or Humber Gateway project specific information, please contact Rebecca Mara on 02476 183679.

For more information, see:

www.thma.co.uk
www.eon-uk.com
www.eon-uk.com/generation/humbergateway.aspx
www.bwea.com
www.thecrownestate.co.uk  

Editors’ notes:

Event details:

The Humber Gateway Awareness Event

Forest Pines Hotel
Scunthorpe
DN20 0AQ
Thursday 28th January

• Registration is between 10:15 and 11:00am with tea, coffee and pastries.
• 11am - Introduction from Graham Billany, Team Humber Marine Alliance.
• 11.10am - Andrew Fox, Yorkshire Forward; an overview of offshore wind in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
• 11.40am - Sam Pick and Helen Day, Team Humber Marine Alliance; an overview of opportunities.
• 12:15pm - Lunch 12:45pm - Vaughan Weighill and Tim Handley, E.ON, Humber Gateway.
• 13:45pm - Break 14:00pm - Humber Gateway, questions and answers with all speakers.

Team Humber Marine Alliance (THMA)

Formed 15 years ago, THMA is a public/private sector partnership of Humber maritime businesses that has grown to more than 75 member businesses.

Free to join, it is seeking to increase its membership of marine and related engineers. Interested companies should contact Graham Billany, project manager at Team Humber Marine Alliance, on 01482 485270, graham.billany@thma.co.uk  

Offshore wind – facts and figures

Offshore wind farms from Round 1 and Round 2 are currently in operation, including in the Greater Wash area off Lowestoft and Skegness; the North West off the Lancashire, Welsh and Scottish coasts, and in the Thames Estuary.

Off the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire coast, the two sites allocated in Round 2 of the Greater Wash section are E.ON at Humber Gateway and DONG Energy at Westermost Rough. Between them they have a generation capacity of up to 540MW.

A number of new sectors have been allocated in Round 3, details of which were released by the Crown Estate this month, including Hornsea and Dogger Bank.

See COWRIE, the Collaborative Offshore Wind Research into the Environment, www.offshorewindfarms.co.uk  for information and maps.

For media information, please contact Julian Woodford or Catherine Ackroyd at Mapa on 01482 589900, 07739 139056, julian@mapa.org.uk;  catherine@mapa.org.uk