Invest in Fife, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Renewables welcomed organisations to the Renewable Energy Supply Chain Event held yesterday at the Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline.

It was aimed at companies keen to find out more about the renewable energy sector, and how to enter the supply chain.

The event was chaired by Niall Stuart, Chief Executive, Scottish Renewables, who commented: “Events like these are really important in making local and national businesses aware of the huge opportunities available in all the different types of renewable energy”.

Keith Winter, Head of Fife Council’s Development Services, said: “This event is part of our Fife Economy Partnership Strategy to raise awareness and provide support to local businesses looking at the range of opportunities now emerging from the enormous economic opportunity to be gained from renewables energy developments. The Council along with Business Gateway and Invest in Fife encourages any company to make contact to learn more, receive support and develop the opportunities they can see”

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Sixty five companies from around Fife attended the event and the audience heard from a number of leading Renewable Energy companies including Seonid Vass of Scottish Enterprise who spoke about development opportunities; David Hughes, of Siemens who discussed the suppliers view and supply chain needs; and Katrina Hendry, from Aquamarine Power, outlined the supply chain requirements in the wave sector.

As one of the leading supporters of renewable energy in Scotland, Fife was perfectly placed to host this event. The Crown Estate’s plans for four wind farm sites off the coast of Fife will require over 1,000 turbines. Construction is due to start in 2014 and companies based in the East Coast of Scotland are ideally placed to take advantage of this opportunity.

The vast expertise of companies within Fife puts them in an ideal position to take advantage of the opportunities within the Renewable Energy sector. Two such companies Briggs Marine and QinetiQ presented at the event and highlighted their experience of the sector.

Collieson Briggs, Managing Director of Briggs Marine added: “As a local Fife based company and supplier to the Renewable Energy market, Briggs Marine recognise the importance of these supply chain events which play a major role in identifying businesses that can assist with all phases of the installation and future maintenance programmes of the selected offshore wind farms. We were delighted to take part in such a focussed event to showcase our expertise in the marine sector and discuss the challenges and opportunities within this industry.”

These companies along with many more are listed within the new Renewable Energy Supply Chain Directory that was launched at All Energy in Aberdeen two weeks ago.

(GK)