Scottish Enterprise has appointed global energy consultancy, Xodus, to the role of Offshore Wind Cluster Builder in order to develop and grow the offshore wind supply chain across Scotland.

The Offshore Wind Cluster Builder will support Scotland’s existing offshore wind clusters, DeepWind and Forth and Tay Offshore, in the companies’ remit to foster collaboration, drive competitiveness and improve productivity in Scottish Offshore Wind.

The project will do this by delivering a range of services to SMEs including one-to-one support, events, workshops and market intelligence, as well as facilitating collaboration between SMEs and academia.

Xodus will also work to consolidate the offshore wind landscape for SMEs, connecting and simplifying elements of the sector to enable greater engagement by Scottish companies, helping them to capitalise on opportunities presented by offshore wind. An event will be held on Tuesday 15 June 2021 to formally launch the Cluster Builder and a new Offshore Wind Supply Chain Survey. Developed in conjunction with DeepWind, Forth and Tay Offshore, Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) and Scottish Renewables, the survey aims to build a more detailed picture of Scotland’s Supply Chain in order to showcase the breadth of capabilities across the companies.

With speakers from SOWEC, DeepWind and Forth and Tay Offshore as well as Xodus, the event will outline the Cluster Builder remit, launch the Offshore Wind Scotland Supply Chain Survey and discuss how this will benefit the wider Scottish Supply Chain.

Head of Low Carbon Transition for Scottish Enterprise, Andy McDonald, said: “The Offshore Wind Cluster Builder will be an important project to support the development and growth of the offshore wind supply chain across Scotland. SMEs will have access to services to collaborate, grow and secure business within the offshore wind industry locally, nationally and internationally leveraging Scottish capabilities to strengthen the offshore wind supply chain for a sustainable industry and net zero future economy.

“The new project will align with the work of DeepWind and Forth and Tay Offshore to ensure Scotland benefits from the many opportunities presented by offshore wind.”

Xodus has worked with Scottish Enterprise on several projects to support and grow supply chain capability in Scotland. This work includes supply chain analysis for sensing and remote monitoring in marine renewable energy, Offshore Wind Expert Support for SMEs and the collation of Scottish supply chain databases in the offshore wind and green hydrogen sectors.

The ‘Cluster Builder’ project also strengthens Xodus’ offering to the global offshore wind supply chain across the Atlantic, where the company is conducting a similar research project. The Boston, US team is assessing the local and regional supply chain around Massachusetts, US, and has also recently won work to carry out a related assessment and gap analysis for Hampton Roads and the southern Virginia region, also in the US.