UK offshore and maritime capabilities showcased at Amsterdam’s Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference

Last November, the annual Offshore Energy Exhibition and Conference took place in Amsterdam. The UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT) and wider UK Government partners organised and participated in various activities over the two-day programme, spotlighting the strength of UK offshore energy and maritime capabilities and exchanging perspectives on the industry’s future.

Trade mission from the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine to the Netherlands

As part of the event, a total of 18 UK companies from the North of England and the Midlands regions attended the show with the support of DIT.
Before the show, DIT delegates received market briefings from our DIT Netherlands Senior Trade Adviser, Ricardo Solis, on the latest developments in the Dutch North Sea, and guidance for conducting business with Dutch stakeholders from the Netherlands British Chamber of Commerce.

On the show floor, our DIT delegates benefitted from meetings with key Dutch and international industry players. These companies provided updates on their current and future offshore activities, and how UK capabilities might fit within their supply chains.

The companies also held a roundtable on day two of the event, discussing future developments and opportunities for closer alignment of the UK Offshore Wind supply chain, with delegates representing all aspects of the industry.

One delegate from Francis Kirk (of Socket Crews Ltd) had this to say about their company’s experience on the trade mission, and the support provided by DIT:

“It’s great to have that support and to be able to walk into a trade show with many pre-arranged meetings, with roundtable events, with everything there that as a standalone business we could never even dream of.”

Collaboration with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in London to organise the 4th annual Anglo-Dutch Roundtable on Offshore Wind.

Continuing an initiative that began in London in 2017, the DIT Netherlands team collaborated with counterparts at the Dutch embassy in London to organise a closed-door roundtable for British and Dutch government stakeholders and leading industry representatives. The annual event seeks to contribute towards further bilateral cooperation on offshore wind in the North Sea, overcoming barriers and finding further synergies.

This year, over 35 Dutch & British representatives from all parts of the offshore wind industry and government took part to discuss the current state of play, challenges and opportunities ahead.

Key topics addressed during the session included spatial planning, energy transmission, circularity and floating wind parks. These are good foundations for collaboration and expertise exchange given rapid developments in both countries, with a number of related tenders in the pipeline for 2023.
Participants agreed that the UK and the Netherlands have made good progress in offshore wind in recent years. Nevertheless, we still need to speed up developments as we move ahead with ambitious measures to achieve a more secure, clean and affordable energy system.

Summary

The Offshore Energy Exhibition and Conference continues to be an important event for the European energy sector, and especially for Anglo-Dutch business with operations in the North Sea. It is an excellent opportunity for UK companies to expand their networks, reconnect with existing partners and keep up to date on market developments, at an international fair located a short distance from the UK, with the support of DIT staff based both in the UK and at the British Embassy in The Hague.

The diversity of our UK delegates was a testament to the UK’s dedication to the offshore energy sector. The UK is pioneering the energy transition in this new era of renewables, with an ambitious target to deploy 50 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, including 5 GW of floating wind. Building on this, the UK will now look further out into the ocean to unlock 80% of the world’s offshore generation potential with floating offshore wind turbines.

With an established offshore wind market, the UK is uniquely placed to export products and services to the world, supporting the energy transition across every phase of project development. The UK has a start-to-finish ecosystem of suppliers from early stage planning through to decommissioning. By way of example, 2,652 wind turbines and 43 offshore wind projects are already installed in UK waters1 and by 2030, the UK will be generating enough clean energy from offshore wind to power every home in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) is dedicated to realising these targets by supporting British international trade and investment around the globe. Based at the British Embassy in The Hague, the DIT Netherlands team supports UK exporters, and Dutch investors to the UK within the Offshore Energy sector, and can advise on upcoming opportunities in the North Sea.

If readers wish to learn more about the technologies and developments mentioned in this article, or how DIT can support your company in the Netherlands, they can contact the team at [email protected].