UK: AREG Promotes Renewables Innovation at Low-Carbon Investment Conference

Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) is to share its knowledge of innovative ways to invest in renewable technologies at a major Scottish low carbon conference being held today (October 11).

The leading private-public partnership is participating at the Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

AREG, which is a key sponsor of the conference, will also be exhibiting at the event where it will showcase its members’ diverse range of capabilities in renewables and innovation.

The conference is part of the Government-backed Scottish Low Carbon Investment (SLCI) project and will feature guest speakers from around the world. They will discuss what needs to be done across the energy spectrum to help Scotland meet its ambitious low-carbon 2020 targets.

AREG’s renewables champion, Iain Todd, is to participate in the conference. He said: “Renewable energy is integral to developing a sustainable and credible low-carbon energy footprint. Aberdeen City and Shire is one of the regions playing a leading role in helping to position Scotland at the global forefront of renewable energy, particularly offshore renewables.

“Through its deep-rooted energy expertise, Aberdeen City and Shire has a proven international track record in cutting-edge innovation spanning from engineering and project management to vital research and established industry practices.

“It is therefore important that we work collectively across Scotland to ensure we harness our energy credentials. To this end, AREG actively encourages businesses across Aberdeen City and Shire to develop renewables solutions that can be used locally, nationally and internationally to provide a sustainable energy future for generations to come.”

On Thursday, Mr Todd is to take part in a conference session focusing on Innovative Finance. Panellists will discuss how public and private sectors can work together to deliver solutions to mitigate risk for renewable technologies via test, demonstration and deployment at the right scale. They will also look at the roles of financiers, manufacturers and test facilities to look at the opportunities to scale deployment at acceptable costs.

One of AREG’s flagship projects is the pioneering European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC). Through a number of industry reports, centres such as the EOWDC have been endorsed as pivotal springboards to the successful development of Scotland’s offshore wind industry by addressing a fundamental gap in the offshore renewables sector for researching, developing and demonstrating new innovations.

AREG was behind the original concept for the EOWDC and Aberdeen Bay has been chosen as the location for the cutting-edge project following more than six years of extensive stakeholder engagement and studies in and around the area. The location has also been chosen because of the region’s critical mass of offshore skills and supply chain expertise and research & development resources as well as its proximity to onshore resources.

The more than £230million EOWDC offshore wind farm and test facility will test and demonstrate up to 11 next generation offshore wind turbines, support infrastructure and other related technology.

AREG has also played an instrumental role alongside Aberdeen City Council in helping to create the Aberdeen Hydrogen Project. The £25million project will see Aberdeen installing cutting-edge technology to generate, distribute and use renewable hydrogen fuel for a range of the city’s energy needs. This includes the deployment of 10 hydrogen buses which will be the largest fleet of its kind in Europe.

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Press release, October 11, 2012; Image: rampantscotland