Developing renewable energy supply chains in Scotland

As fossil fuel prices remain volatile and in response to calls to reduce carbon emissions, countries around the world are turning to renewable sources of energy to reduce their dependency on traditional forms of energy generation, improve their ‘green’ credentials, develop new sources of economic value and create a level of energy security.

The benefits of a shift towards renewables are clear, such as creating new job opportunities, export markets and inward investment. However, to realise these benefits Scotland, as other countries, must tackle the manifest challenges in creating a new renewable energy industry. Focus is often directed towards Government targets, securing inward investment and early stage research and development and too often the supply chains which form the very ‘DNA’ of renewables are left to emerge organically.

Focusing on the supply chain now is essential. There are many renewable sources of energy and the range of technologies available for capturing it is significant. Many technologies (such as those for wave and tidal energy) remain at very early stages of development. They will need extensive support to allow these energy forms to be captured and used at an acceptable cost to consumers. Others such as offshore wind are arguably further advanced although for the most part, currently rely on the marinisation of existing onshore technologies.

PA understands the challenges and has proven experience in this field, for example, our work as part of SolarReserve. We also lead the 2020 Supply Chain Group in Scotland to accelerate and inform the renewables debate. An integral part of this work is the creation of technology development plans which present an industry view of how best to establish viable supply chains for marine and offshore wind technologies in Scotland. 

These allow key stakeholders in Scotland’s renewables industry to gain a clear, comprehensive understanding of what needs to be done, by whom and when in order to ensure Scotland can capitalise on the supply chain opportunities. It will also help demonstrate how Scotland can maximise its domestic and international renewables market share. Our aim is to use these plans to develop an action plan to advance the renewable energy supply chain in Scotland.

Please contact us now so that we can introduce the plans to you and incorporate your feedback and views into the development of a renewable energy supply chain action plan for Scotland.