Offshore Seminar: Project Delivery

Session B2 | Day 1, Tues 25 Oct, 11.30-12.45 | Charter 1, Ground Floor

What are the key lessons learnt from offshore wind project delivery to date with respect to project risk and contract management. What will need to change to maximize the efficient construction of future offshore projects that present greater logistical, procurement and project management challenges?

• Chair: Chris Towner, Bond Pearce LLP
• Halfdan Brustad, Statoil
• Mark Stewart, EC Harris
• Alex Dawson, TAG Energy Solutions Ltd
• Anthony Prince, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.

Chair:
Chris Towner, Partner, Bond Pearce LLP and Chair of the RenewableUK Offshore Wind Delivery Working Group

Chris is a partner specialising in commercial projects work with particular expertise in the renewable energy sector. Chris spent six years in the energy and projects team at Herbert Smith, advising a range of companies, merchant banks and public sector clients in relation to a wide range of issues connected with the UK electricity and gas markets. Since coming to Bond Pearce in 2006, Chris has specialised in advising renewables projects, with particular focus on offshore and onshore wind projects as well as wave and tidal projects. Chris advises a wide range of developers on issues relating to the realization of value from renewable projects, the OFTO regime and grid connection issues, and the financing of projects. Chris is Chair of the RenewableUK Offshore Wind Delivery Group.

Speaker:
Halfdan Brustad, Vice President Offshore Wind, Statoil

Offshore wind - a Glimmer of Hope?
Offshore wind projects today are expensive compared to market prices for electricity. Therefore the industry is dependant of governmental funding. Over time this is not sustainable and the industry has to develop in bringing cost down and reach grid parity in a 10 year perspective, else the authorities will look for other energy solutions. Meeting the future the whole industry needs to leave current the situation and develop complete “new” business concepts with grid parity as target. Key issues here are; drastic cost reduction, technology, industrialisation, competitive business framework and consolidation and new stronger players.

Halfdan Brustad, married and 3 children, graduated as MSc in Naval Architectural at Norwegian Technical High school in 1983. Mr Brustad has 28 years experience of project management and procurement within large oil and gas, and aluminium projects. Last 5 years as SVP for projects and procurement in Statoil. From 1st January 2011 he changed position in Statoil as VP for Wind project asset management in Statoil Renewable Energy. Currently holding position as director in both Scira Ltd, Forewind Ltd and Statoil UK Wind Ltd.

Speaker:
Mark Stewart, Partner, EC Harris

Increasing viability and assuring delivery of energy investments - Taking Innovative Approaches to the Supply Chain
By creating partnering models and collaborative supply chain arrangements developers can deliver savings in both time and cost of up to 25% which may enable the delivery and certainty of investment goals to be achieved. Fostering closer working relationships with the supply chain and best practice delivery concepts will create an environment of commitment and mutual trust. Getting the right balance of control and collaboration between the developer and the supply chain tiers is crucial. This presentation explores new and innovative ways to project delivery which could dramatically reduce project lead times.

Mark is a Partner within the Energy and Manufacturing Sector, with a breadth of experience working in the Energy sector in particular around Power Generation working with some of the worlds leading energy clients. Mark also acts as a non-director board member for a couple of prominent energy councils, including the Energy Industry Council committee, where he acts as an advisory non-executive board member.

Speaker:
Alex Dawson, Chief Executive Officer, TAG Energy Solutions Ltd

Offshore Wind Projects - An Alliance Alternative
An Alliance is a contracting strategy which aligns the goals of the project developer and partners with contractors, vendors and suppliers to minimise cost, increase profitability and contribute to each others long term future. The objective of the Alliance is to enrol participating companies to deliver the project at less than target cost and share in the savings through a risk / reward sharing mechanism. This presentation looks at some practical experiences where cost savings and technical benefits were gained by making maximum benefit of the skills available within individual companies and the Alliance membership as a whole.

Alex Dawson is the CEO of TAG Energy Solutions and has over 30 years experience across a broad spectrum of the International Offshore Energy Industry from engineering through project management and many years at board level within global organisations. More recently Alex recognised the opportunities in the developing offshore wind market and refocused the TAG O&G business to create TAG Energy Solutions, the UK’s first state of the art tubular production facility for the manufacture of cost-effective, seabed-to-sea-surface foundations. Alex is also Chairman of a group of North East companies at the forefront of developing UK manufacturing to serve the offshore wind market, currently 80% imported and TAG ES is at the heart of this regional renaissance as a Renewables hub.

Speaker:
Anthony Prince, Vice President, Power and Renewables, European Structured Finance Office, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.

Construction Risk in Offshore Wind Projects
It is estimated that the UK will need to invest around £75 billion in new generation to meet its 2020 renewable energy targets with much of this investment destined for offshore wind. To realise this capacity many different sources of capital will need to be deployed and commercial banks have the potential to be a key contributor. This presentation looks at the key risk categories lenders will assess when determining the bankability of a construction-phase offshore wind project and the possible challenges developers face when trying to access this capital.

Anthony Prince joined BTMU in 2004 and since then his focus has been primarily on the European wind sector. Anthony is currently leading the BTMU team advising on the raising of finance for a UK offshore wind farm and is working on a further two UK offshore projects in an arranging capacity. Over the past 5 years Anthony has worked on a number of other advisory and lead arranging mandates in the offshore sector in the UK, Europe and North America. Prior to working at BTMU Anthony worked in the project finance team at Deloitte.