Thousands of people are expected to attend a sold-out floating wind event in Aberdeen but limited capacity has left some in the doldrums.
More than 1,500 delegates are expected to attend Floating Offshore Wind 2022, which takes place tomorrow and Thursday at P&J Live.
Hosted by trade bodies Scottish Renewables and Renewable UK, the event promises to be “the meeting place” for the burgeoning floating wind sector to share best practice and showcase innovations that can help drive down the cost of the technology.
Organisers announced late last week that places at the conference were sold out, leaving those without a ticket on a large and growing waiting list.
As of yesterday morning, there were about 200 people on this list.
Disappointment for those left out
Having failed to book early, some of them have voiced disappointment at being unable to secure a place.
One industry executive, who did not wish to be named, said he had tried to book tickets for himself and his business development team last week, only to find the event sold out.
He was told there was already a 100-plus waiting list for tickets, and “little to no chance” of him securing a place.
The sell-out highlights the appetite among floating wind developers and the supply chain as the sector prepares for a major build-out of capacity in the coming decades.
Biggest ever
Renewable UK senior event manager Vicky Comber said: “This will be our biggest floating wind event ever, with an extraordinary range of expert speakers and record number of delegates – reflecting the massive amount of interest there is in this innovative technology worldwide.
“The UK is a global leader in floating wind, which offers us opportunities not only to ramp up deployment here and build a whole new industry, but also to export our expertise and cutting-edge technology to other countries in the years ahead.”
What’s in store?
The event will take a broad look at the local and global opportunities for the sector, including sessions on engineering challenges, cables, skills and related technologies such as green hydrogen.
Scotland is already home to the world’s first floating offshore wind farm, HyWind, started by Equinor in 2017.
Expectations for the sector continue to grow, not least in the wake of the UK Government’s Energy Security Strategy, which pledged to increase Britain’s offshore wind targets from 40 gigawatts (GW) to 50GW by 2030, of which at least 5GW is expected to be floating wind.
ScotWind in the spotlight
Scotland’s ScotWind seabed licensing round will also take centre-stage at the conference.
There will be a dedicated plenary session exploring supply chain commitments and investments being made by ScotWind developers, as well as the associated opportunities that come with the 25GW of new wind capacity expected to be delivered.
The event will feature panellists and speakers from the likes of Shell, Orsted, Vestas, SSE, Equinor, Crown Estate, ScottishPower and many more over its two-day run.
P&J Live has parking for up to 2,200 vehicles, though visitors are encouraged to use public transport options including discounted rail tickets available through LNER.
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