About The OEA
The Offshore Energy Alliance is an offshore and energy supply chain cluster for the North Wales and North West region of the UK.
The Alliance is a collective of public and private partners who work together under one umbrella, to promote wider involvement in offshore wind and other low-carbon energy sectors. The cluster is made up of three main ‘sub-regions’: North Wales, Merseyside and Cumbria, however, it’s free and inclusive approach means that engagement across a range of technologies and locations is welcomed. The cluster is directly linked to commitments made between UK Government and Industry in 2019 and was established as part of the UK’s Offshore Wind Sector Deal.
Aims & Activities
The OEA is a cross-sectoral, cross-regional alliance that aims to bring together key parties from across North Wales and the North West of England for the benefit of local businesses and others. The cluster ‘flies the flag’ for the region in a collaborative way, raising awareness of opportunities across a range of technologies and themes, with an end goal of achieving more prosperous coastal communities.
The cluster’s partners are working together to increase local benefit from energy projects in the region across the pillars of: business growth, infrastructure, innovation and skills.
As a collective, the OEA wishes to support the further expansion of low carbon energy and ensure that opportunities and benefits are open to a greater number of people, businesses and communities across the region. The cluster, therefore, supports the development of a globally leading supply chain, future infrastructure needs, cutting-edge innovation and a future highly skilled workforce.
The cluster also works with other UK clusters and national governments / local authorities to promote relevant technologies both regionally and nationally. With the projected growth of the offshore and floating wind industries out to 2030 (and beyond), in addition to the growth of low carbon technologies generally, plus the opportunity for a green growth recovery post Covid-19 – it has never been more timely for coastal communities around the UK to position themselves and be ready for the opportunities to come.
Examples from other parts of the UK show the benefits that clusters can bring: coordinating, organising and formalising supply chain activities and ‘flying the flag’ for the local region. Just like these other clusters, the OEA will raise awareness of opportunities in a timely way both within the region and beyond.
OEA activities include:
- Pan-tier engagement & networking
- Themed forums, webinars & events
- Information Dissemination e.g. for business funding & support
- Attracting Inward investment
- Up to date capability mapping
- Working groups focused on: People, Ideas, Business Environment, Infrastructure & Place
- Improving skills, diversity, equality & inclusion
- Business Glossaries
- Regional promotion at conferences and events
- Website and cluster registration
- Involvement in Research and Development activities
- And much more…
Find out more
Take a look at the OEA brochure and connect with us on LinkedIn.
Download our brochure +Collaborate to Compete
The industry and its local partners are learning that in many ways, collaboration is the key to success. The OEA’s success relies on collaborative engagement across the relevant regions, with support from a wide range of parties including: industry (developers, OEMs/Tier 1s and SMEs); the public sector (Government Departments and LEPs); skills, training and academic institutions, champions of diversity, equality & inclusion, infrastructure owners and others. Support for the OEA continues to grow from strength to strength with a wide range of regional partners and ‘topic champions’ coming on board.
Our ambition is to support the growth of sustainable, low carbon energy around our shores to maximise benefits for local communities as part of the national journey to Net Zero
