One of the latest developments coming from Germany – Europe’s biggest economy – in relation to the renewable energy industry is news that the utility giant RWE has announced its plans to invest €5bn in both the UK and Poland.
There is also to be an additional €1bn investment in offshore wind developments in the German North Sea.
The news confirms Germany’s commitment to switch off all 17 nuclear reactors in the next 10 years as a reaction to the Fukushima disaster from 2011 proving once again that the renewable energy sector and more specifically the offshore wind industry is rapidly turning into a profitable business.
Many companies are already hoping to get their share of the significant investment RWE is planning to make in the renewables sector by winning key long term contracts with the company in 2012 and beyond. Given the shutdown of the German Nuclear industry, many manufacturers in the country who now supply parts or services to nuclear plant developers and operators will soon be short of business, and looking for new opportunities such as that which the RWE investment represents.
Furthermore, other industries such as the oil and gas or aviation industry are also looking to enter the offshore wind market and according to the EWEA ‘’the supply of offshore wind turbines will meet and exceed demand for the next decade, leading to healthy levels of competition within Europe with the potential for export to emerging North American markets’’.
With new players constantly entering the offshore wind market, the competition for the procurement managers’ attention will become increasingly harder to achieve leaving the least adapted companies out of business. With more businesses offering supply chain products and services in 2012, knowing exactly what procurement managers are looking for will be a critical factor for companies’ survival in the market.
To address these issues, the 2nd Annual Offshore Wind Supply Chain Conference taking place in London this February 28-29 is bringing leading contract and procurement managers from Europe’s main utilities to discuss their selection criteria for choosing supply chain partners for the next round offshore wind projects. RWE is presented by Mr. Bjoern Przygodda, Head of Procurement, Offshore and Mr. Thierry Aelens, Head of Projects & Operations, Offshore who will be giving some vital insight about the RWE offshore experience and the main factors they will be looking for in their current and future business partners across Europe.
With more than 150 C level executives attending the event last year and even more expected to join this year, the 2nd annual offshore supply chain conference is the largest, most important business to business gathering entirely dedicated to offshore wind supply chain industry matters in UK and Europe.
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Source: windenergyupdate, January 16, 2012; Image: alpha-ventus