In March 2015, IT Power co-organised an offshore wind workshop in Taicang, China, alongside the Chinese Wind Energy Equipment Association (CWEEA),the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Titan Wind Energy (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. This was a part of an on-going UK-China co-operation project on offshore wind that has been funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 2013. The principal aim of the workshop was to provide the audience with the information required to consider investing in UK offshore wind projects and the supply chain.

IT Power China’s Manager, Zhu Li, presented an overview of the offshore wind sector in the UK, describing the history of its development and the future predictions for its growth. Mark Leybourne, a senior engineer in IT Power UK’s offshore group, gave three presentations throughout the day:

• Three UK offshore wind project case studies (Greater Gabbard, Thanet and Sheringham Shoal)
• Investment and technical risks within UK offshore wind projects
• Potential investment opportunities and market entry for Chinese supply chain into the UK market

In addition, a number of Chinese speakers presented on topics related to China’s growing offshore wind industry and some of the challenges that have been faced so far. The +100 strong audience comprised a mixture of wind turbine manufacturers, project developers, engineering companies and equipment suppliers.

The event was sponsored by Titan Wind Energy, China’s largest supplier of wind turbine towers. At the time, Titan was celebrating its 10th year in business and invited the audience to take a tour of its turbine tower factory at the nearby port. Following the tour, many of the workshop delegates attended Titan’s anniversary, gala dinner that evening where guests were treated to an array of entertainment.