Wednesday 22 May 2013

New Scottish institute for offshore renewables industry

Three Universities in Scotland are combining their expertise and experience to launch a new facility for offshore wind energy in the country.

The Offshore Renewables Institute (ORI) in Dundee will provide effective and practical help to the offshore renewables sector and Government through consultancy, research, policy advice and professional development. It will focus specifically on deployment and implementation rather than technology and equipment.

The ORI will bring together experts from the University of Dundee, the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University with the aim of developing and delivering solutions for the offshore wind industry in the North Sea and globally.

Professor Paul Mitchell from the University of Aberdeen and Founding Director of the ORI said: “The UK and Scottish Governments have set ambitious targets for 2020 for offshore wind deployment. This presents us with an array of challenges – and not only in terms of the improving technology. We need to look at the environmental impact of such large developments, the legal issues, safety of course – and how we can increase efficiency and reduce costs over the lifetime of a project. We need a variety of experts around these problems, all working together to a common goal.

“We also require people with the skill sets to deliver this industry safely and efficiently in the challenging and hostile environment of the North Sea. That’s an area where we have experience second-to-none, through three decades of producing the workforce for the oil and gas sector.”

Last week, Scotland also officially opened an electricity grid research centre, believed to be the first in Europe.