Provost of Aberdeenshire, Councillor Jill Webster has been attending the Scottish Renewables Offshore Wind & Supply Chain Conference & Exhibition to raise the profile of wind technology in the area.

The event features around 60 exhibitors and over 800 participants and ran at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) on Tuesday 29 January and Wednesday 20 January, 2013.

This was the first year Aberdeenshire Council has taken a stand at the exhibition.

Council staff spoke to visitors and other exhibitors to promote the area’s three main harbours at Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Macduff.


The staff were on-hand to offer support to local companies involved, or seeking to become involved, in the offshore wind industry.

The Provost visited the conference on Wednesday to find out more about the opportunities available in offshore wind energy and the steps taken by Aberdeenshire Council to support local and international businesses.

She also spoke to members of the Peterhead Energy Hub, to John Wallace of Peterhead Port Authority and the council’s own principal roads engineer for harbours, George Cameron.

She said: "The offshore wind industry continues to grow and businesses in Aberdeenshire are in a great position to take advantage of the opportunities that creates.

"The harbours at Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Macduff have facilities which are ideally suited to the development of this industry and the exhibition provided a great opportunity for visitors and potential investors to see what they have to offer.

"There are some great opportunities out there for local firms and we will do what we can to provide support."

(IT)