North Devon: Our Marine Future looks bright - Tim Jones

For as many years as I can remember the story of Northern Devon’s economy has stopped at the coastline. With a few exceptions, such as, Clay imports/ exports, Appledore Shipyard, and the dwindling fishing fleet have been the only business activities ongoing. When Appledore Shipyard closed, the prospects for a further decline in marine business looked increasingly likely.

It is now wonderful news that Appledore Shipyard is rapidly being restored to its former glory. There is a rich seam of business, both existing and on the forward order book. The parent company – Harland & Wolff – have forged an impressive pipeline of work, including the restoration of building grey ships for the MoD.

It is entirely reasonable to anticipate that the Shipyard could slowly build back to its historic employment levels which, in their heyday, was around 600 direct employees. This is only however part of the Appledore story. Those directly employed and the work they are undertaking generate at least 300 indirect jobs, mostly in the local economy.

The benefits which are derived from the disposable income generated also benefit many local businesses. This is truly a honeypot and a facility which Northern Devon can be justifiably proud. It is always said that the quality of work coming out of the Yard represents some of the highest skill levels in the country.

This whole marine agenda is however about to move into a much higher gear. There is now genuine reason to look at our coastal waters and regard them as part of our future economy and very probably to become a regional leader in marine activity. After many years of justifiable concerns as to the deep economic and social problems of our coastal communities, a much brighter future can now be anticipated.

What has changed? I have been routinely reporting on the extraordinary opportunity that the floating offshore wind market could bring to us. The next round of UK offshore wind turbine licences will be in the Celtic Sea. This means that a large number of national and international companies are recognising the strategic importance of Northern Devon.

The UK is a leader in this market. We currently have around 12% of the global market. This means that we have access to technology at the highest level. Science and some of our brilliant academics and leading edge businesses have produced a new generation of monster machines. The latest can generate 15 Megawatts of energy. The dimensions of these are that they are taller than the Shard in London with turbine blades of around 117 m length. Each turbine weighs around 500 tonnes. The power output is a major contributor to our national clean energy requirements, 1 Megawatts is equivalent to 1000 Kilowatts and provides enough power for between 500-1000 homes per year.

The UK has a target of 5 Gigawatts of installed floating wind capacity by 2030. Scotland is expected to be one of the biggest markets in the world. The Celtic Sea will not be far behind this. The opportunity here is for around 4 gigawatts of capacity. This is roughly equal to an array of around 235 turbines. To service these, around 2,900 kilometres of array cable are required. The technical challenges for these floating monsters is huge. They are operating in water depths of around 80-90 metres. They require tethering. It is unsurprising that from the start of the project to operational activity can take up to 10 years. This is a grown ups market for funding. Capital investment is huge. Importantly, however, only around 50% of the cost is taken up during the initial construction phase. The balance comprises operational expenditure. This is where the benefits for Northern Devon are most likely to occur.

It is self-evident that there is nowhere in Northern Devon where these arrays can be assembled. Indeed, it is highly unlikely that anywhere around the South West coast (with the exception of Portland) are big enough to take on this challenge. It is highly likely that the hub for the construction work will be at Milford Haven and Port Talbot. This area has recently benefited from a government designation as the Celtic Freeport.

This does not however mean that our sub-region will be frozen out of involvement. The turbines need to connect to the national grid. That connection is most likely to be in Northern Devon.

In addition to the initial fabrication work, there are a huge number of specialist materials which will be required, such as, cabling and anchorage. The wind farm will need to be maintained, which will require both service boats and work boats. This is ideal for our shipyard at Appledore.

This potentially could mean electric vessels to ensure that our green agenda is preserved through clean propulsion.

In addition to equipment, there are a whole host of highly skilled workers who will be required. The current estimates are that this could generate a total of around 25,000 jobs. A healthy percentage of these should and must be generated from Northern Devon.

This opportunity does not stop here. Once these waters have been opened up by the turbines, then a whole new series of industrial activity can be contemplated. These come under the heading of Marine Aquaculture. We already have one of the largest approved seaweed farms in the UK. This market has infinite capacity to grow.

It is by no means an exaggeration that by 2035 or sooner, these marine businesses will be driving the Northern Devon economy.

So have we got our act together on this. There has just been a brilliant marine conference held at Petroc. This attracted the most senior representatives in this new world. It also attracted a number of local businesses who can supply into this Market.

Petroc itself, is ensuring that it is ahead of the game for the skills requirements. What a tantalising prospect for our next generation.

Written by Tim Jones, Chairman of the North Devon Biosphere Foundation