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Conference

Over 150 speakers took to the platform, from government ministers to champions of industry, to highlight the urgent need to invest in wind, wave and tidal power and the opportunities this will bring to the UK, and to address the remaining barriers facing the continued growth of the industry.

BWEA is delighted that the Rt. Hon. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown MP, and new Energy Minister Mike O'Brien MP, were able to address conference.

View the conference proceedings online here, including audio and video recordings.

Wind, wave and tidal energy are coming of age. Wind power now provides nearly 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of the UK’s electricity, but another 16 GW worth of schemes are at different stages of development. This year the UK has overtaken Denmark as the largest offshore wind energy generator in the world. Within less than five years wind is set to overtake nuclear energy in terms of generating capacity in Britain. With the UK committing to provide 15% of all its energy supplies from renewable sources by 2020, between 35-40% of our electricity will have to be generated from renewables, the lion’s share of which, some 33 GW, will come from wind.

In little over a decade over £40 billion could be invested in the UK wind, wave and tidal energy sector, creating an industry that will help tackle climate change by cutting CO2 emissions, help to meet the emerging energy gap as up to one third of the UK’s domestic electricity production is decommissioned, and provide thousands of new, highly skilled manufacturing jobs as new supply chains open up to service the industry.

The opportunities for wind, wave and tidal energy are enormous but the obstacles are substantial as well. Whether it is the onshore planning regime, securing timely connections to the national grid, streamlining the offshore approvals process or creating the necessary manufacturing capacity, the industry will be working closely with Government and other stakeholders to achieve our common goals: energy security and climate change mitigation.

Conference programme

Download full conference programme

In addition to the main conference programme, additional talks were given in a presentation zone within the exhibition hall. View further details.

Monday 20th October

18.30-21.00	Eve of Conference Reception, sponsored by npower renewables

Tuesday 21st October

	Auditorium	Platinum 1	Platinum 2	Platinum 3	Platinum 4
09.00-10.30	Opening session	No session	No session	No session	No session
10.30-11.15	Coffee break
11.15-12.30	Renewable Energy Strategy	Offshore Renewables Health & Safety	Onshore Development Issues	Wind Resource & Analysis	No session
12.30-14.00	Lunch
14.00-15.30	Wave & Tidal: A Year of Deployment and a Strategy for Future Support	Offshore Round 3: The industry perspective	The Impact of the Strategic Area Planning Approach	Micro- and Small-Wind	Aviation Mitigation – What has worked?
15.30-16.15	Coffee break
16.15-17.30	Offshore Wind Technology ‘Dragons Den’. Chaired by BBC's Roger Harrabin	COWRIE: Current research on the benefits and impact of offshore wind farms	Winning an Appeal – Your questions answered	Health & Safety	The Aviation Plan –Solutions update
17.30-18.30	Exhibitors Networking Reception (Exhibition Hall)
18.30-23.00	Conference Reception, sponsored by ScottishPower Renewables

Wednesday 22nd October

	Auditorium	Platinum 1	Platinum 2	Platinum 3	Platinum 4
09.00-09.30	Mike O'Brien MP, Minister of State for Energy: Keynote Address
09.30-10.45	Offshore Round 3 Coordination – Bringing it all together	Financing Renewables	Can SPP6, NPF2, a reformed S36 process and the Planning Act (Scotland) 2006 deliver good wind farms in Scotland more quickly?	Grid for Dummies	No session
10.45-11.15	Coffee break
11.15-12.30	Aviation and Wind Energy – On the up?	SEA Planning for Round 3	The View from the English Regions	Think Global, Win Local	No session
12.30-13.45	Lunch break
13.45-14.15	Nick Clegg MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats: Keynote Address
14.15-15.30	How Can the Planning System Deliver 14GW by 2020 – Lessons learnt from 2010? Chaired by Channel 4's Julian Rush	Offshore Consenting Today and Tomorrow	Onshore Wind in Wales & Northern Ireland	Wind Farm Design, Performance and Operation	Aviation Central Fund BWEA Member Meeting – BWEA members only
15.30-16.00	Coffee break
16.00– 17.15	Go Live! The Offshore Transmission Licensing Regime	Future Delivery & Economic Benefits	A Planning Officer’s View of the Wind Industry	Wave & Tidal: Design factors for success	No session
19.00-01.00	Gala Dinner, jointly sponsored by E.ON Climate & Renewables and DONG Energy

Thursday 23rd October

	Auditorium	Platinum 1	Platinum 2	Platinum 3	Platinum 4
09.30-11.00	Skills, Education & Employment	Delivering Major Projects	Improving the Planning and Development Process for Renewables – A stakeholders view	Onshore Grid – the dawn of a new era?	No session
11.00-11.30	Coffee break
11.30-13.00	Closing session	No session	No session	No session	No session

Download full conference programme