UK: Construction Starts on OREC’s HQ

Scotland’s flagship International Technology and Renewable Energy Zone (ITREZ) is starting to take shape following the start of construction on Scottish Enterprise’s £10 million Industry Engagement Building in Glasgow – the future headquarters of the UK’s new Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC). 

The ITREZ, which already incorporates Strathclyde University’s £89 million Technology Innovation Centre, aims to offer companies a breeding ground to harness cutting edge research, access the best people and develop products which will shape the renewable energy industry of tomorrow.

OREC, established by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board, will support UK firms working on new technologies and components for the fast expanding offshore renewables sectors, such as offshore wind and wave and tidal power.

It will also work closely with existing research centres, including the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, the National Renewable Energy Centre in Northumberland, the Wave Hub test site in Cornwall, and the recently announced marine energy park in the South West of England.

Neil Francis, Scottish Enterprise’s Senior Director of Technology and Sector Delivery, said the construction of the 5,000 m2 Industry Engagement Building marked a significant milestone in the organisation’s investment to support the growth of the country’s globally competitive renewables sector.

He added:

“Our new building, with its close proximity to the University of Strathclyde’s Technology and Innovation Centre and now also the headquarters for the UK’s Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, offers the perfect location for companies within the renewables energy sector to grow and flourish.”

“The University of Strathclyde’s new Technology and Innovation Centre will be completed in 2014, bringing academics together with international industrial partners to pursue solutions to today’s most urgent global challenges – and to enhance businesses’ competitive standing.”

Scotland’s Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said:

“The start of construction on the Industry Engagement Building is another milestone in establishing the infrastructure that will help us shape the future of renewable energy technology and innovation, not only in Scotland but internationally.

“Through Scottish Enterprise, we have already committed up to £24 million to the ITREZ, along with £15 million from the Scottish Funding Council, and that commitment has helped secure the critical mass of engineering and science from Scottish universities and industry partners.”

Scotland’s renewable energy sector is estimated to have secured a record £750 million of investment in the year to October 2011, with a pipeline of proposed projects with 17 gigawatts of generating capacity, worth an estimated capital investment of £46 billion.

Over the past few years Scotland has also attracted major overseas companies such as Mitsubishi, Gamesa, Samsung, ABB and Alstom are already working with leading Scottish energy and engineering firms to invest in the development of pioneering wind and marine energy technologies.

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Offshore WIND staff, August 1, 2012; Image: Morgan Sindall