I was given a great opportunity at the end of January to attend Scottish Renewables’ Offshore Wind and Supply Chain Conference & Exhibition, which was held in Aberdeen on January 29^th and 30^th.  This was an exciting and interesting event where I had the chance to attend a number of the conference sessions and meet many of the key people involved in the industry.  This year’s conference marked the fifth year that the conference has been held and proved to be the biggest yet, with attendance numbers totalling between 800 and 900 people. 

One of the key outcomes of the conference, in my opinion, was the announcement by First Minister Alex Salmond in his keynote speech on the Tuesday morning, that HIE has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with four of the Highlands leading ports to support the development of the offshore renewables sector.  MoUs have been agreed with Global Energy Nigg, Port of Ardersier Ltd, Kishorn Port Ltd and Cromarty Firth Port Authority, all of which have a long history in servicing the oil and gas sector.  Many of the skills and expertise these companies use in the oil and gas sector can be adapted and transferred to the offshore renewables sector.

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