As a direct successor of the IIIB POWER project, POWER cluster was centred on the development of a strong Offshore Wind Industry (OWI) cluster in the North Sea Region. Core activities included a strengthened stakeholder and business-to-business network, energy grid reinforcement across the North Sea Region, developed skills training courses (including higher education and addressing unemployment) and raising acceptance among the wider public as a basis for wider roll-out of wind energy installations.

Aim
By connecting different sectors and different levels of government and administration, POWER cluster established a sustainable offshore wind cluster. Innovation and learning within the cluster was enhanced. The combined parts of the supply chain allowed for wider economic development to take place through a series of multiplier effects in income, employment, research and productivity performance.

The main aims were to make the North Sea Region:

• a better place to live in, by reducing emissions and securing energy supply, as well as informing people and raising awareness about the positive impacts of offshore wind energy (including environmental concerns and job creation effects)
• a better place to work in, by tackling the impacts of demographic change in the different regions, reintegrating unemployed and/or senior labour force, securing and creating jobs in areas in industrial decline and restructuring
• a better place to invest in and export from, by stimulating the growth of the offshore wind industry, which supported maintaining its world leading role in this future oriented and innovative sector, triggering inward and outward investments.

Background
The offshore wind industry (OWI) is at a turning point, with the first large scale offshore wind farms (OWF) being built over the next years. However, the industry still has to overcome substantial challenges to meet the ambitious targets for offshore wind set at national/EU levels.

The regions have varied settings, due to their diverse domestic wind markets, and are characterized by individual strengths and weaknesses. Whilst no individual region can demonstrate excellence in every aspect of the supply chain, together, the individual regions have full capability throughout all identifiable supply chain activities.

There was a clear benefit of establishing a real offshore wind POWER cluster with close relationships between the companies in the different regions, both for the economic regeneration of the involved regions, and for confirming the North Sea Region as the global engine for the OWI.

The consortium sought to promote the coherence of policies and aimed to establish standard-setting approaches, as the regions had common concerns and shared interests that could be tackled by joint solutions.

The partnership aimed to tackle the crucial challenges (skilled work force, supply chain enhancement, public acceptance and transnational complementarity) by cooperation beyond borderlines and sector barriers. The project sought to develop cooperation between individual countries in order to take advantage of future growth in offshore wind and identifying future markets. It strengthened the position of the North Sea Region as a sector leader, not just for Europe, but globally, based on detailed analysis of the regional and transnational supply chain.

Results of the POWER cluster project

• Within the POWER cluster project the exhibition “Fascination Offshore” was organized to raise the awareness for offshore wind energy among a wide public audience
• Two major studies were conducted within the framework of the project which a) compiled experiences, challenges and recommendations with regard to the Offshore Wind Energy sector in the North Sea Region (“State of the Offshore Wind Industry in Northern Europe – Lessons learnt in the First Decade” - Ecofys study) and b) presented relevant lessons to be learnt from the oil and gas industry  (“Overcoming Challenges for the Offshore Wind Industry and Learning from the Oil and Gas Industry”)
• Innovative databases were developed for raising social acceptance and providing information about the capabilities of companies related to the OWE: Web-based OWF site selection tool (WebSDSS training tool) / Interactive OWE cluster map for the North Sea Region (POWER cluster “Mapergy”)
• A series of OWE communities events and Business-to-Business network events were organized to arrange new business contacts and contracts (e.g. German mayors conference; Offshore Renewable Energies – regional partnership roundtable event and workshop)
• Due to the participation of different educational institutions, POWER cluster contributed to skills development for people in charge of the OWE sector (e.g. Compendium in Maintenance)
• With regards to the organization of the mid-term and the final conference, POWER cluster provided a platform for transnational knowledge exchange and networking as well as the dissemination of actual data and experiences regarding the OWE branch.