Offshore Wind Growth Partnership seeks chair and directors

The newly-announced Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) is searching for a non-executive chair and two non-executive directors to take places on its board.

The OWGP says it is seeking three business leaders who have prior experience of the offshore wind sector or supply chain management skills.

Announced as part of the offshore wind sector deal, the OWGP is set to receive £100 million of the £250 million investment by the offshore wind industry, which is aimed at supporting improvements in productivity and competitiveness to build a stronger UK supply chain.

Among other things, the deal promises that offshore wind will provide a third of the UK’s energy requirements by 2030 aiming to boost the existing capacity of 7.9GW to at least 30GW by the end of the decade.

The agreement also targets a near four times increase to the number of “green collar” jobs in the offshore wind industry, from 7,200 today to 27,000 by 2030, of whom at least one-third should be women.

Some estimates for the future of global offshore wind capacity envisage a 17 per cent annual growth by 2030, leading to a total installed capacity of 154GW compared to the current 22GW.

Dr Stephen Wyatt, research and innovation director at ORE Catapult, said: “The OWGP is a long-term programme backed by the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) and is based on successful models used in the aerospace and automotive sectors that have demonstrated the value that can be created from growth partnerships.

“The OWGP activities will initially focus on helping supply chain companies with strategy and leadership, project management, people excellence, process excellence, health and safety culture, and quality management. It will also work with the offshore wind developers to provide greater long-term visibility of project pipelines that will help supply chain companies to plan and, if necessary, to invest in new capability or capacity.

“The governance board will play a key role in providing oversight for the OWGP’s activities.”

Writing for Utility Week, Orsted’s UK managing director, Matthew Wright lauded the offshore wind sector deal as a “truly significant moment”. He said: “From a standing start, and in a short space of time, offshore wind is now cost competitive with conventional forms of energy generation.”

The passing of the deal did face some scrutiny, however. The negotiation process was described as “lengthy and confusing” and like “playing darts blindfolded.” A final deal was not unveiled until months after the industry claimed it was weeks away from an agreement.

Those interested in applying for the roles should contact carolyn.emmerson@ore.catapult.org.uk by 23 April 2019.