MEMBER NEWS: ORE Catapult appoints Andrew Macdonald as Offshore Wind Development & Operations Director

December 14, 2021
MEMBER NEWS: ORE Catapult appoints Andrew Macdonald as Offshore Wind Development & Operations Director

The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, the UK’s leading research and innovation centre for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, has promoted Andrew Macdonald into the role of Offshore Wind Development & Operations Director, effective from 1st February 2022.

Andy will take responsibility for the Catapult’s extensive portfolio of projects in Smart Operations & Maintenance (O&M), working closely with offshore wind developers to accelerate the development of both fixed and floating offshore wind farms, reduce costs and grow the UK supply chain to meet both domestic and international demand for clean energy products and services.

Andy joined the Catapult in 2013 as Senior Innovation Manager and has been responsible for the successful delivery of high impact innovation programmes with UK SMEs. Most recently he led the development of the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP), the £100m industry-funded UK supply chain growth programme and he will continue to oversee delivery of the programme in his new role.

Andy Macdonald said: “With offshore wind clearly established as the backbone of the UK’s future low carbon energy system, there are massive opportunities for ambitious supply chain companies to help the sector deliver the volume of affordable and reliable clean power that will be needed to meet our net zero goals.

“We have an exceptionally talented team in Offshore Wind Development & Operations, and I have no doubt that we will play a key role in unleashing innovation as the key enabler of growth in an industry that is one of the UK’s great success stories and a vital enabler of Net Zero.”

ORE Catapult CEO Andrew Jamieson added: “Andy has played an instrumental part in the success of ORE Catapult to date and has extensive experience and knowledge of the UK’s offshore renewable industries. Already well known amongst offshore wind developers, his leadership in supporting their future growth and the development of the UK supply chain will further strengthen our team and help to deliver significant UK benefit from the continued growth in offshore wind.”

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AREG has played an important role in the growth of Scotland’s renewable energy sector, engaging the supply chain and developing the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. However, we are only at the very beginning of the transition that AREG was established to both lead and support so there are still opportunities for companies to get into the constantly evolving renewables supply chain. We look forward to continuing our work together as renewables builds on its place as Scotland’s main source of power, and as we seek to deliver real change in the crucial areas of heat and transport.

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Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with AREG since its formation. The recent progress in the developments of offshore wind projects by Equinor and Vattenfall are as a result of the work of the group over many years. The north-east is known as the oil and gas capital of Europe. At the Chamber, we believe the region must evolve its position to being recognised as the energy capital. Whilst hydrocarbons will continue to be essential in driving our economy for years to come, the generation of renewable resources will play an increasingly important role in providing cost-effective power, innovative development and economic growth.

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The enthusiasm and dedication of the early group that would become AREG was fundamental in us choosing to launch All-Energy in Aberdeen. The first tiny show was held in 2001, and AREG’s Chairman at the time, Jeremy Cresswell, played such an active role that I often describe him in terms such as All-Energy’s ‘midwife’. All-Energy is now the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon energy exhibition and conference in terms of number of attendees, space booked, and number of exhibiting companies. As AREG became firmly established, their presence and support for the event grew spectacularly over the years. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable input.

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Vattenfall has forged a strong working relationship with AREG through the development of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. AREG has worked tirelessly on behalf of the North East and it can take enormous credit for the growth of sustainable energy in the region and the path it has cleared for the region to capture further investment.

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Aberdeen City and Shire is emerging as a key location for renewables by successfully transferring its world-class oil and gas expertise into the sector and AREG has done much to advance this through a broad range of initiatives. It has acted as a catalyst in driving further investment in the local economy by engaging with companies, Government, public bodies and existing projects and we have been pleased to support their efforts. Scottish Enterprise will continue to engage with AREG as we increase Scotland’s use of renewable energy.

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