Humber estuary can be 'Silicon Valley of green energy'

It’s a startling future vision for the Humber estuary - the Silicon Valley of green energy, leading the world in sustainable power generation.

It may seem far-fetched now, with the much-vaunted plans by Siemens for a plant building offshore wind turbines still to pass through planning and be finally confirmed, but one industry leader is in no doubt about the Humber’s place in what he calls a “CO2-free economy”.

Dr Eddie O’Connor (pictured) is Chief Executive and Founder of Mainstream Renewable Power, a company working in partnership with Siemens in the SMart Wind consortium developing the Hornsea offshore wind field, one of three huge North Sea turbine clusters within a few hours “steaming time” of the Humber.

He’s also Secretary of the European Wind Energy Association and a leading voice in the renewables field. Last week he was in Hull to talk about his vision of how offshore wind will “change the world” as “the fossil fuels era comes to an end”.

I’ve heard many speakers hail the economic potential of renewable energy for the Humber. Typically, the impact of offshore wind is predicted to be similar to that of the discovery of North Sea oil to Aberdeen. But Dr O’Connor’s assessment went much further. He described an economic powerhouse spanning both banks of the Humber, leading the transformation to sustainable energy for Britain, Europe and then the world.

His vision is based on the commitment of the UK and other nations to develop green power sources for environmental and energy security reasons. That, he says, presents a huge opportunity for the UK as an island nation with the natural resource of wind in “super-abundance”.

In a presentation to a conference at the University of Hull, Dr O’Connor predicted huge investment across Europe during “two generations of transformation to a sustainable future” in which offshore wind will be the “backbone and centrepiece” of European energy generation. He sees the Humber at the heart of that investment because of its proximity to three of the largest offshore wind fields.

The Humber ports are already Britain’s busiest docks complex, but Dr O’Connor described even more activity along the estuary, with two new ports focused on the offshore wind industry - Green Port Hull at Alexandra Dock in Hull, where Siemens will operate, and the Able Humber Port site on the south bank. He says six different types of vessels will operate out of the estuary in construction, operation and maintenance of the turbines.

He also foresees makers of turbines, towers, blades, foundations and cables all congregating around the Humber. “All of this will probably happen around the super-cluster that is being constructed as we speak on the Humber estuary,” Dr O’Connor told the New Energy Workforce conference.

The drive for a low-carbon future is underway across the continent, but the focus will be on the UK, he says. He estimates that up to 20 offshore turbines a day will need to be built over 40 years to meet Europe’s renewable energy needs - a significant proportion of them in UK waters. “That is good for the environment and very good for this country,” says Dr O’Connor. He predicts the UK will export excess electricity from wind power to the continent. “We will be supplying electricity for export many times the demand in the UK,” he says.

Until now Germany and Denmark have been the leaders in offshore wind, but Dr O’Connor believes Britain will soon take the mantle, with a resultant jobs bonanza. Based on the German experience, he predicts up to 150,000 jobs from offshore wind developments around the UK by 2020.

It will take decades for the UK and Europe to move to predominantly low-carbon energy generation and, even beyond then, Dr O’Connor says the UK can use its expertise to help the new economic super-powers such as China and India to adopt renewable energy.

Offshore wind has its critics - some say it is too expensive and the turbines don’t work when the wind doesn’t blow - but Dr O’Connor’s case is made more persuasive by the announcement the day after the conference that two of the “big six” energy companies have pulled out of plans to develop nuclear power plants in Britain.

E.ON and RWE npower scrapped their plans in the wake of concerns over nuclear safety following last year’s Japanese tsunami. The decision threw the British Government’s energy policy into disarray, but made it even more certain that wind power would be required to make a huge contribution to the country’s renewable energy needs.

Dr O’Connor says the issue of inactive turbines will be resolved by the development of a “super grid” connecting the wind fields and ensuring continuity of energy generation across a giant network of thousands of turbines. “The wind is always blowing somewhere,” he says. “It may be locally variable but it is globally plentiful”.

Dr O’Connor’s vision helped to set the conference in the context of the economic opportunity for the Humber. Other speakers highlighted a number of challenges in fulfilling the potential of renewable energy, foremost among them a predicted shortfall in engineers. Martin Hottass, Head of Skills for Siemens UK, said Britain needed almost 100,000 new engineers by 2016 as one in three reach retirement age.

All the speakers agreed it was a major priority to help schools, colleges and universities to encourage young people into engineering. Mr Hottass talked of Siemens’ commitment to working with educational establishments and training providers to encourage young  people to choose a career “in a really exciting sector with loads of opportunity”.

It was a message heard loud and clear. University of Hull Vice Chancellor Professor Calie Pistorius said the university had a range of courses and programmes focused on renewables and the low-carbon economy.  It was committed to building “a workforce that is low-carbon aware and has the right specific skills,” he pledged.

Certainly there is now a concerted focus across the Humber to equip local workers with the skills to gain employment and build careers in the offshore wind and wider renewable energy industries.

But will Dr O’Connor’s vision of the Humber at the heart of an offshore wind bonanza become reality? He is clearly an evangelist for offshore wind and his forecasts may be at the most optimistic end of the range, but even if the impact is half of what he predicts, the effects will be truly transformational and be felt for decades.

“Why can’t the Humber become the Silicon Valley of the energy of the future?”, asked Dr O’Connor. Why not indeed. And what a thrilling, unprecedented opportunity to transform the fortunes and long-term prospects of a region where unemployment is stubbornly high.

• The New Energy Workforce conference at the University of Hull was staged by Humber Chemical Focus and the university’s Centre for Adaptive Science and Sustainability.

Humber Chemical Focus

Centre for Adaptive Science and Sustainability at the University of Hull

Dr Eddie O’Connor blogs on offshore wind and renewable energy issues at http://eddie.mainstreamrp.com/

Siemens and the offshore wind bonanza: How can the Humber keep the jobs and wealth

Politicians are not noted for understatement but, in the case of the huge wave of investment on its way to Hull and the Humber, local MPs have played the prospects down.

So says one of them, the West Hull and Hessle MP Alan Johnson, as he puts into perspective how significant the burgeoning renewables sector will be for a city that has lacked a core industry since its fishing fleet was decommissioned after the 1970s Cod Wars.

Hull’s elected representatives have been cautious in celebrating the decision by German giant Siemens to locate a factory manufacturing offshore wind turbines on Hull’s dockside. The caution is understandable. As Mr Johnson says, the city has seen many false economic dawns, but he is in no doubt that this is the real deal. “For once the politicians are underplaying this. It’s astounding what it will do for this area”, says the MP, who compares the impact as “like oil to Aberdeen”.

The Siemens facility will bring 700 new jobs. Many thousands more will come in the supply chain and from other green energy investments along the Humber estuary.

Why the Humber? The key is location. It is just 12 hours “steaming time” from three huge North Sea wind farms where 5,000 turbines will be erected in what has been described as the biggest civil engineering project in the world. It will be a game-changer for an area with high levels of unemployment and reeling from the likely loss of 850 skilled manufacturing jobs at BAE Systems in Brough.

But, while the Humber bids to become the UK’s renewable energy capital, there is a challenge to ensure the resulting jobs and wealth stay in the region. Offshore wind energy is in its infancy in the UK. On the continent there are established supply chains keen to profit as the industry develops in Britain, as companies heard at a conference, Offshore Wind: A Guide for Businesses, staged by industry body the Renewables Network and specialist PR and marketing company Footprint Renewables.

Some local businesses have already grabbed a slice of the action, notably MMS, based in Hull, which will build and operate a fleet of vessels to transfer technicians and equipment to the turbine fields. Others need to get up to speed - and fast.

Renewables Network Business Development Director Sam Pick says Siemens will be “the magnet that drags the rest of the industry on” and says local firms need to find their place in the supply chain. “Think about who you are going to send your invoice to - that’s where you target your products and services”, he urges.

Mr Pick says the big reward for the region is long-term careers, not just jobs. “People can get into these careers and grow with the industry”.

Another speaker, Eric Collis, of the Humberside Engineering Training Association (HETA), said a rapidly-evolving industry required a workforce who could learn and relearn skills. They’ll be well paid, though. He quoted £52,000 as the going rate salary for a technician working offshore.

He also predicted fierce competition for contracts. “It will be like the Klondike. Competition will come in like seagulls,” said Mr Collis. “You’re no longer competing with the guy around the corner. You’re competing with the rest of the world and they’re hungry for the work too”.

Capacity to grow and access to funding were vital, said John Britton of Hull-based consultancy BCG Bridgepoint. He said the UK offshore wind industry would be four times bigger in 2016 than in 2010. By 2030 it is predicted to be eight times larger than in 2016. Tracking that exponential growth would see a SME with turnover of £300,000 today become a £10m business, he explained.

Rob Bell, of skills and logistics consultancy Archomai, highlighted a key difference from the Aberdeen experience: “North Sea oil made money; North Sea wind costs money”. The industry’s subsidies meant pressure to reduce supply chain costs by 30 per cent to ease the taxpayer burden. “We’ve got to understand that this is not shopping at Harrods, it’s shopping at Lidl”, he cautioned. Suppliers would profit by driving down the industry’s costs, he said.

Logistics and supply chain expert Professor Chee Wong, from the University of Hull, said another challenge was compliance with a host of accreditations demanded by the likes of Siemens. The university is one of many organisations focused on developing a local skilled workforce equipped for the new opportunities.

Humber firms will also need to find and forge alliances or joint ventures, such as the British and Danish ownership of Alpha Energy, a company based in Hull supplying contract workers to the onshore and offshore wind industries. “You’ve got to put the air miles in”, says Director Bruce Marbrow.

And now is the time to act, says Mr Pick. He’s tired of hearing talk of “if” offshore wind will take off. “It’s not an if,” he says. “We need to be moving right now. This may be new here, but not in Denmark and Germany and companies here will be competing with existing suppliers there.”

• This article was first published in the Yorkshire Post