How can innovation help a business grow in the offshore wind industry?

As part of our 2024 Innovation Week, in association with Innovation SuperNetwork, we hear from Brendon Hayward, joint Managing Director of Northumberland based offshore technology specialist Osbit. In this thought leadership feature, Brendon breaks down the importance of innovation in the offshore industry. Read on to find out more… The world is transitioning to a greener future but much more needs to be done to hit the Government’s ambitious clean energy targets. In the last decade, the offshore wind sector has seen an explosion in growth, driven by advancements in technology, innovation and a commitment to cutting carbon emissions. Innovation in offshore wind has undoubtedly helped the industry to address key challenges such as safety concerns and reducing the costs of offshore wind, but for the industry to continue to thrive and for businesses to continue to grow, innovation must go hand in hand with supply chain collaboration. Without a genuine bond between innovation and collaboration we will never hit the targets to increase the UK’s offshore wind capacity to 50 GW by 2030. By their very nature, offshore wind projects are large scale and complex endeavours that require much coordination between stakeholders and delivery partners to increase industry efficiency, cost effectiveness and sustainability. It is those companies that both innovate through technology and collaborate with other industry players that have the best chance to grow their business and spearhead a successful green energy future. Embedding innovation in the offshore wind industry requires investments in people, culture and processes. Sharing expertise and knowledge enables networks to share economies of scale, resources and investments, fuelling future industry growth. By innovating new technologies, project delivery processes and constant learning and collaboration, together with investing in the skills and expertise of teams, businesses of all sizes and shapes will benefit from the offshore wind boom. This in turn helps to drive overall industry improvements, helping to build resilience, safeguard the future and mitigate risks. Alongside our innovations in technology and people, we are also innovating what collaboration looks like and tools to harness data in order to learn. Tailwind has helped Osbit grow by providing a valuable tool that increases collaboration with our clients and derisks their projects. It enables supply chain businesses to reduce costs across the full project installation lifecycle, increase operational efficiencies, improve safety performance, share knowledge and best practice; innovation at work! The transformative waves of technological innovation and innovating in people, culture and skills are steering businesses across the UK offshore wind industry to a more sustainable and resilient future. Any businesses that continue to innovate will reap the rewards and make a significant contribution to the country’s clean energy goals and stand out as exemplars of harnessing the power of offshore wind. Knowledge, skills and expertise are at a premium right now and an innovative approach to recruitment such as student placement, graduate engineers and apprenticeships is key. With the accelerated growth of offshore wind across the globe and the adoption of innovative technologies, businesses operating within the sector must continue to nurture, support, grow and develop their talented teams. This article is part of Bdaily’s 2024 Innovation Week, in association with Innovation SuperNetwork. Inflation is expected to remain stubborn in January. It’s then likely to drop towards 2% in the Spring – before bouncing… In December 2023, the UK retail industry faced a 32% decline in sales. As a result, the competition for retailers…