For the first time, Scottish Development International is hosting a Scotland pavilion at Offshore Energy Exhibition and Conference (OEEC) in Amsterdam this week, targeting energy related opportunities in The Netherlands and Northern Europe. The Scotland pavilion joins Iran, Italy, China and the Netherlands on the list of country pavilions.
Both responding to the challenging oil and gas market by increasing international opportunities and maximising growth opportunities in Scotland’s renewables sector, the Scottish Government’s international arm has identified the Netherlands as a key market opportunity and is supporting 22 Scottish companies – 13 on the Scotland pavilion – to maximise opportunities in this important market.
Scotland’s oil and gas sector currently delivers £0.56 billion of total international sales in the Netherlands making it the 6th most popular country for international activity.
In addition, Northern Europe is already the world’s biggest offshore wind market (11GW) and industry forecasts predict that the offshore wind sector globally could see another 7000 offshore turbines installed by 2025 which would be a huge £200 billion opportunity for offshore energy and engineering companies to develop. The scale of the Dutch offshore wind industry alone will see an ambitious 3.5GW of projects delivered during 2016-2020 opening up significant opportunities for Scotland’s energy sector.
Director of energy at Scottish Enterprise, Maggie McGinlay, said: “Supporting companies to find new international opportunities is a priority for us. So too is helping oil and gas companies to look at additional opportunities in other growing sectors where their skills can be transferred, such as offshore wind.
“This conference can help us to achieve both of these ambitions which is why, for the first time, we are hosting a Scotland pavilion at Offshore Energy. Scotland’s energy sector is world-renowned for its innovative and experienced supply chain and this event offers a platform to capitalise on these strengths to find new international growth opportunities.”
Offshore Energy attracts nearly 12,000 visitors and 658 exhibitors from 86 nationalities. The event has been running for nearly a decade and has not stopped growing.
During the visit, companies will join the Decom North Sea networking breakfast, attend a meeting with the Iranian pavilion and have an opportunity to visit The Port of Rotterdam.