Marine-i welcomes G7 conference on FLOW

On the first day of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Cornwall (where one of the key topics of discussion was the climate change crisis and how we respond to it,)  Celtic Sea Power hosted a hybrid conference around the role of Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) in tackling climate change and how the Celtic Sea, Cornwall and the wider UK can accelerate the scale-up necessary to ensure that this exciting industry can fulfil its global potential. 

The G7 Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) Conference  “Accelerating a Global Revolution” was held at the Falmouth Hotel and, due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, attended by an audience of 30 including project developers active in the region, industry and investment representatives, national and local politicians. In addition, 75 more participated through an online webinar and over 200 viewed a livestream of the event. In total, over 300 people from across seven countries participated.

Prof Lars Johanning, Programme Director of Marine-i, said: ‘FLOW in the Celtic Sea is a huge opportunity for Cornwall. Already we are seeing many innovative businesses gearing up to take advantage of the growth potential and we are delighted that Marine-i is supporting many of these businesses on their RD&I journey, accelerating the development of their innovation.”

The Conference featured a series of presentations and discussions focusing on:

• How Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) meets the scale required to make significant change to global energy production and the resulting size of opportunity, 
• How the Celtic Sea region can be developed to accelerate the industrialisation of FLOW to meet this global opportunity,
• The impact and opportunities of early thinking around low carbon footprint and local content strategies,
• How a joined-up regional response to this global opportunity can maximise investment and deliver return

Speakers and panellists included the Rt Hon George Eustice MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Adrian Scholtz, KPMG; Tim Stiven, The Crown Estate; Dr. Michael Warner, Centre for Local Content Innovation; Prof. Deborah Greaves, ORE Supergen; Steve Jermy, Celtic Sea Power; Mark Duddridge, CIOS LEP; Piers Guy, Guy Energy; Cherilyn Mackrory, MP for Truro & Falmouth. 

The conference was organised and hosted by Celtic Sea Power, a company wholly owned by Cornwall Council which has been set up to lead the development of FLOW in the Celtic Sea.

Steve Jermy, Chair of Celtic Sea Power, said: “FLOW represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Cornwall and the South West region to develop a world-leading, pioneering new industry. We are ambitious and determined and we are looking forward to working with like-minded developers.”

Matt Hodson, Interim Chief Operating Officer of Celtic Sea Power, added: “At this conference, we have felt the energy and positivity of the stakeholders and the supply chain. We are going to harness all that energy and potential and create a FLOW sector which is at the forefront of global developments. We plan to lead, innovate and inspire, developing a new industry leading to thousands of new jobs and helping address the climate emergency.”

An edited version of the recorded conference will be available online from early in the week of the 21st June.

[Image from Celtic Sea Power]