The UK oil and gas sector should take advantage of the growth of the offshore renewables industry.

The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult said the country’s experience in oil and gas could be harnessed to put the country at the forefront of the growing offshore renewables market, which is set to spend £210 billion in the coming decade.

It has launched a series of new challenges as the sector continues to come to terms with lower oil prices and weakening demand.

They are spread across six broad themes – blades, electrical infrastructure, foundations, operations and maintenance, powertrain innovation and wave and tidal.

ORE highlights Aberdeen-based engineering provider, W3G Marine, as one of the companies moving into offshore renewables.

The firm, which works in the offshore oil and gas industry, developed a drone-based erosion inspection technology concept for offshore wind farms which could drastically reduce operations and maintenance costs.

Andrew Tipping, Commercialisation Manager at ORE Catapult said: “Aberdeen and the UK as a whole has extensive experience in oil and gas and the skills base, both in exploration and drilling, could be invaluable to the growth and development of offshore renewables. The value of this should not be underestimated, particularly at a time when the oil and gas sector continues to contend with lower oil prices and a need to reduce operating costs.

“Diversifying into renewables provides greater resilience for companies at the same time as providing an opportunity to take an early lead in what will be a huge global industry… The emergence of offshore renewables could be Britain’s new oil boom – the potential is absolutely huge.”