Representatives of over 250 of the world’s
most experienced offshore wind companies attended the Business Network
for Maryland Offshore Wind’s (BizMDOSW) International Offshore
Partnering Forum in Baltimore from November 12‐14, 2014.
This 3 day gathering of European and American
business executives, government officials, technical experts and academics
consisted of over 18 separate workshops and 88 speakers. Participants
came from the U.S., Germany, Denmark, United Kingdom, and Norway including
Dong Energy, Siemens, Vestas, Alstom, Bladt Industries, Blue Water Shipping
and A2Sea.
An
International and U.S. Business Partnering Session was held to assist local
businesses to connect with experienced international firms. Said
Jay Borkland of Apex Companies, LLC “There was more information and networking
at this conference than the past three OSW conferences I’ve gone to put
together. I am finding the format and the way it’s set up to be
very beneficial in terms of encouraging people to team up. I’ve
made a number of solid connections. We are going to get the phone
calls and meetings and we are actually going to team up and submit proposals
together.”
Forum participants heard from US Wind, Inc.,
the newly selected Maryland Wind Energy Area Developer. U.S. Wind,
Inc. expects to begin construction by 2019. US Wind Inc. is investigating
the variety of American companies available for subcontracting opportunities
as they begin the process of finding local content to meet the MD Offshore
Renewable Energy Credits (OREC) requirements.
“Strategic partnerships and contracts
are now being negotiated and soft costs are now being spent by companies
positioning themselves to be in the supply chain,” says Liz Burdock,
Executive Director, BizMDOSW. “The Maryland offshore wind farm
is estimated to be $2.5B with $1B projected to be spent locally. We have
regulations (the OREC) in place that requests our developer use as many
local companies as possible. The Network is trying to engage those companies
we believe can offer significant impact on the project and be able to economically
benefit‐‐creating jobs here in Maryland,“ says Burdock.
“It really clicked for me yesterday,”
said participant Ikaika Kincaid of MSI Marine Solutions, Inc. “I finally
realized where our value fits in the moving puzzle. It wasn’t just
one thing. It was a combination of the technical sessions, WindMatch
and the networking.”
“[BizMDOSW]… did a great job,” said
Kristopher Saum of Apex Companies, LLC, “It turned out to be a more engaging
opportunity for moving a project forward and networking than I ever expected.”
Said Daniel Woodman of Offshore Design Engineering, “How encouraging
it is to see how much interest there is in this and offshore wind in general
in Maryland.”