MEMBER NEWS: Ocean Supercluster establishes collaborative partnership with European Leaders of Blue Energy

June 14, 2022
MEMBER NEWS: Ocean Supercluster establishes collaborative partnership with European Leaders of Blue Energy

Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC) and the European Leaders of Blue Energy (ELBE) Alliance have announced their new partnership to foster the exchange of best practice and collaborative initiatives among their respective members in Europe and Canada on renewable ocean energy.

In the partnership, the OSC and ELBE Alliance will focus  on advancing opportunities in renewable energy sources, including offshore wind, wave, and tidal energy. Through sharing knowledge and research, the partnership sets out to support SMEs and create new market opportunities in these areas of renewable energy.

ELBE Alliance represents seven European clusters: Basque Energy Cluster from Spain, Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group from Scotland, Blue Cluster from Belgium, Energy Cluster Denmark, OffshoreVäst / RISE from Sweden, Pôle Mer Mediterranée from France and GCE Node from Norway.

“As the world transitions to more renewable energy sources, it creates significant opportunity for sustainable offshore energy growth,” said Kendra MacDonald, CEO of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. “We are excited about the potential of this partnership with the European Leaders of Blue Energy where we will work together to meet shared objectives and increase opportunities for our members in renewable energy, while also reducing carbon emissions on the path to net zero.”

“The alliance partners recognize the significant opportunities that could be developed by working closely with Canada’s Ocean Supercluster and are looking forward to collaborating on innovative ways in which to help the transition from fossil fuel dependency to a net zero future,” said Gordon McIntosh, Director of Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group on behalf of ELBE. “Over 1000 companies and organizations from across Europe comprise the makeup of the ELBE partnership and we are sure that the MOU signed today will act as a catalyst for greater interaction between Canada and our European partners.”

Get in touch

AREG is the original energy transition organisation, working on behalf of members to empower the energy supply chain and champion its expertise. Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to find out more about membership.

AREG has played an important role in the growth of Scotland’s renewable energy sector, engaging the supply chain and developing the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. However, we are only at the very beginning of the transition that AREG was established to both lead and support so there are still opportunities for companies to get into the constantly evolving renewables supply chain. We look forward to continuing our work together as renewables builds on its place as Scotland’s main source of power, and as we seek to deliver real change in the crucial areas of heat and transport.

Scottish Renewables

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with AREG since its formation. The recent progress in the developments of offshore wind projects by Equinor and Vattenfall are as a result of the work of the group over many years. The north-east is known as the oil and gas capital of Europe. At the Chamber, we believe the region must evolve its position to being recognised as the energy capital. Whilst hydrocarbons will continue to be essential in driving our economy for years to come, the generation of renewable resources will play an increasingly important role in providing cost-effective power, innovative development and economic growth.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce

The enthusiasm and dedication of the early group that would become AREG was fundamental in us choosing to launch All-Energy in Aberdeen. The first tiny show was held in 2001, and AREG’s Chairman at the time, Jeremy Cresswell, played such an active role that I often describe him in terms such as All-Energy’s ‘midwife’. All-Energy is now the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon energy exhibition and conference in terms of number of attendees, space booked, and number of exhibiting companies. As AREG became firmly established, their presence and support for the event grew spectacularly over the years. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable input.

All-Energy

Vattenfall has forged a strong working relationship with AREG through the development of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. AREG has worked tirelessly on behalf of the North East and it can take enormous credit for the growth of sustainable energy in the region and the path it has cleared for the region to capture further investment.

Vattenfall

Aberdeen City and Shire is emerging as a key location for renewables by successfully transferring its world-class oil and gas expertise into the sector and AREG has done much to advance this through a broad range of initiatives. It has acted as a catalyst in driving further investment in the local economy by engaging with companies, Government, public bodies and existing projects and we have been pleased to support their efforts. Scottish Enterprise will continue to engage with AREG as we increase Scotland’s use of renewable energy.

Scottish Enterprise