The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult welcomed the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and offshore wind industry leaders from the United Kingdom and the United States to London on 17 September to discuss the current and future state of the offshore wind industry, and to learn how both countries could work more closely together.
Governor Deval Patrick joined ORE Catapult chief executive Andrew Jamieson and representatives from RenewableUK, National Grid MA, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and UKTI, looking at the emerging offshore wind industry in Massachusetts and the rest of the United States and how best practices can be adopted from the United Kingdom.
The discussion focused on how both countries can jointly tackle the challenges facing the offshore wind industry for their mutual benefit. Specifically, the meeting explored the role of innovation, policy incentives in changing political climates, barriers to entering the market and technical challenges in establishing the industry, as well as project financing, cost reduction mechanisms and the economic benefits of the offshore wind industry in both the UK and US.
“ORE Catapult was set up to help realise the enormous economic and social benefits of a vibrant offshore renewable energy sector,” Jamieson explained. “Collaboration and technology innovation are the critical enablers of those benefits. Governor Patrick’s visit is a fantastic opportunity to build new partnerships – sharing experiences and best practice, and strengthening the economic and environmental opportunities in both the UK and US.”
Governor Patrick expressed excitement about exploring ways the United Kingdom and Massachusetts might work together in the growing wind power industry. Since taking office in 2007, his administration has worked to position Massachusetts as a hub for the emerging US offshore wind industry. In fact, this past June the Governor announced that a large area off the coast of Massachusetts would be available for commercial wind energy leasing, the largest in US Federal waters and almost doubling the area available for commercial-scale wind energy projects in the US. The project, Cape Wind, is expected to pave the way for offshore wind activity in the US.
"The investments we are making in related infrastructure have positioned Massachusetts as a first-in-the-Nation hub for a new offshore wind industry that will bring us both good jobs and clean, Massachusetts-made energy,” Governor Patrick said.