The East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) has hosted a trip to the region by a delegation of 20 businesses from Northern Ireland.

The party included representatives from businesses involved in the Energy Connections NI programme which helps small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to take up supply chain opportunities in the sector.

Businesses represented included engineering, fishing and professional services firms, with the party also including delegates from First Flight Wind, the consortium developing a windfarm off the coast of County Down.

Their tour included visits to Lowestoft port to study its transformation from fishing to an energy port, the local offshore renewables hub OrbisEnergy, and CWind, a leading provider of construction and maintenance services to windfarms. “We were delighted that they wanted to learn from our region’s experience and expertise in the renewable energy market,” said EEEGR chief executive Simon Gray. “It was a chance for us to showcase all that is being done to ensure our own supply chain gains the maximum benefit from once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in the wind energy world.”

Amanda Smyth, spokewoman for the visiting delegation said, said Energy Connections NI recognised the economic renewable potential of the energy sector and wanted to help its local SMEs to take advantage of the supply chain opportunities.

“This knowledge transfer visit is the first of its kind within the programme and we have a lot we can learn from the linkages established by EEEGR. We shared our experience from Northern Ireland and we hope to bring back best practice from EEEGR which may help our businesses locally,” she added.