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By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

Entries are open for this year’s Humber Renewables Awards, which celebrate all that is being achieved on the Energy Estuary.

The gala dinner event, at Hull’s DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel on May 2, will be the celebratory finale to the Offshore Wind Connections conference, which opens on May 1.

It follows last year’s unification of the sector’s calendar highlights to mark a decade of delivery of the flagship regional gathering, where hundreds of industry leaders attend to share best practice, explore innovation and update on project and policy developments.

It will be the 12th year of celebrating success in a sector that has brought a new economic direction to the area, while helping fuel grand decarbonisation ambitions for the industrial cluster. There are ten award categories.

Iain Butterworth, chair of Humber Marine & Renewables, said: “I’m delighted to see this partnership continue. This is my first year as chair of the board and in 2023 I attended both Offshore Wind Connections and the Humber Renewables Awards dinner for the first time.

“I was impressed with how we now see the tangible benefits of what offshore wind has brought to the area. Only ten to fifteen years ago we were looking at the prospects for offshore wind, now – as was evident from the stage of both OWC and the awards – offshore wind has well and truly arrived on the Humber, yet is still in its relative infancy and only going to get stronger.”

Mr Butterworth is a maritime lawyer and leads his own marine consultancy business, having started his working life as a marine engineer. He has been involved with Team Humber Marine Alliance, which merged with Grimsby Renewables Partnership in 2022, for more than 20 years.

Having looked back with pride on achievements so far in the sector at 2023’s event, this year’s conference will look at the ten years ahead, with Net Zero targets and green energy expansion deadlines looming. And launching the awards’ nomination call, the team behind Humber Renewables Awards underlined the sector’s breadth, with the scope going well beyond wind.

Previous winners, in what is now an extensive list, have been drawn from major project developers, key supply chain and training partners, as well as the fields of micro-generation, battery storage, solar and hydrogen innovation, together with supporting ports, logistics and engineering operations.

The dedicated website – www.humber-renewables.com – is now live, featuring all the information, including the online entry form for the open categories. The deadline for nominations is Sunday, March 17.

Orsted and RWE are backing the awards once again, with John Roe Group returning as official car sponsor. Opportunities remain to get involved as the countdown begins. To enter the awards, click here.