An event in Glasgow on 18 November 2015 saw the launch of the European Space Agency's new Ambassador Platform for Offshore Energy (AP-OE). It took place at the new Technology Innovation Centre, which is itself part of ITREZ, the zone within Glasgow that houses a number of renewable energy companies. Among these is the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC), the UK's flagship technology, innovation and research centre for offshore renewable energy, which hosts the Ambassador Platform.
Attendees included representatives from industry, academia, and government active in the offshore energy and satellite application industries. They learned about the challenges facing offshore energy, the potential for new satellite applications to meet these challenges, information about the ESA Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) programme and how to participate in it.
The event was coordinated by Callum Norrie, ESA's new 
Offshore Energy Ambassador, who is based in Glasgow at OREC. Explaining the rationale behind the creation of the new AP, he says: “the UK offshore energy industry has been identified as an area that can provide future economic growth. From an offshore energy perspective the UK has an established oil and gas industry, an abundance of offshore wind energy to be harnessed and large potential within the wave and tidal domains. All of these sectors can benefit from space applications where suitable projects can drive down cost, provide better oversight or improve safety and environmental protection.”
“The November meeting enabled the message of the AP-OE to be widely disseminated and we are already seeing interest in submitting bids,” says Callum Norrie. “We will be meeting and talking with potential participants in the programme, and plan to hold dedicated workshops to build consortia where space assets meet the challenges of the changing offshore energy world.”
For more information about the new AP, please contact Callum Norrie.