The eyes of the world are focused on the East of England’s rich energy assets and that will be reflected in one of the region’s major conferences in Norwich this year.
The Southern North Sea Conference, SNS2012, staged by EEEGR (the East of England Energy Group) will be the biggest ever, with a strong international flavour and headed by former BP chief Lord Browne.
“The Southern North Sea is blessed with some of the best energy resources in the world: natural gas, wind and wave,” said Lord Browne, now a partner in Riverstone Holdings LLC. “But the crunch question is what we can do, whether in business, government, or education, to make the most of that resource. We cannot afford to get it wrong.”
Industry speakers lined up alongside him include Paul Jeffs, head of production operations for RWE; Peter Giller, director of German windfarm developers WindMW; Oliver Kleyn, from Shell Projects; Keith Tucker, decommissioning manager for Perenco; and Dr Rainer Mohr, of REpower Systems, turbine manufacturers.
John Westwood, group chairman of international energy business advisors Douglas-Westwood, will set the scene before chairing the conference.
SNS2012 has nearly double the capacity of the three previous sell-out events with 340 delegates expected at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, on March 1. There will also be an inaugural exhibition featuring companies from across the supply chain.
EEEGR executive director Celia Anderson said: “It is the biggest conference we have ever staged and reflects the rapidly growing interest for business and investment opportunities in the East of England. We have developed to embrace that international as well as regional significance.”
The event will be more pro-active than ever with delegates having the chance to meet buyers from major companies with specific energy projects in gas and offshore wind, among them SSE, Perenco, Offshore Marine Management, Petrofac, Jacobs Engineering and EAOW (East Anglia Offshore Wind), the team behind a multi-million pound venture off the Norfolk coast.
Conference sponsors and participants are Seajacks UK whose managing director Blair Ainslie added: “We have the highest possible regard for the skills and expertise of this region and, since the oil rush of the seventies, this is the most exciting time in its energy history.”
The annual Energy Innovation Awards and gala dinner will again be staged on the evening before the conference, at the Holiday Inn, Norwich International Airport, on February 29.
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Offshore WIND staff, January 26, 2012; Image: eeegr