Meet the Expert event materials – Insurance with Renewable Risk Advisers

The second session in the Selkie Project’s Meet the Expert series focused on insurance and risk management for ocean energy projects. Lead by industry-leading experts Renewable Risk Advisers, founding director Michael Bullock gave a fantastic overview of the risks and necessities of insurance in the marine energy sector and covered real-life examples of ocean energy issues and methods to minimise risks in project developments.

Having worked in risk mitigation for the renewables sector since 2005, Renewable Risk Advisers have a vast depth of experience as a specialist consultancy and insurance broker working with clients operating projects across the tidal, wave, wind and solar sectors. With expertise across risk, insurance and post-loss advisory, RRA offer a suite of services supporting clients with projects from start to end.

Giving a comprehensive overview of the types of risks that are most commonly seen in the sector, the session gave businesses an insight into the key considerations required during different stages of project development. In order to minimise the likelihood of these risks occurring, a number of key mitigating factors for ocean energy projects were suggested:

• Consider accessibility, retrievability and maintainability of devices, particular new and novel technologies.
• Plan and design for worst case scenarios – factor in the possibility of uninsurable project features.
• Plan, protect and verify cable routes – lessons learnt from offshore wind show that there is a high probability of cable-related issues in marine energy projects.

Comparative to many renewable sectors, wave and tidal developments are at an early stage and as a result of numerous novel and prototype technologies in the industry, a key takeaway from RRA was to ensure early engagement with insurers. Similarly, obtaining professional risk mitigation advice from project conception through to development, operation and completion is highly recommended to minimise costs.

RRA completed the session by detailing how their team will assist in the design of a brand-new ocean energy insurance fund, having been appointed by Ocean Energy Europe to carry out work as part of the OceanSET project. This exciting project will allow for the de-risking of projects, enabling wider spread scaling-up of ocean energy and being a part of the solution for many of the risks and difficulties associated with insuring ocean energy.

To find out more about Renewable Risk Advisers, please visit their website and read more about the new ocean insurance fund here.

To access the recording of the event please see the video above and download the session presentation here.

To register for our upcoming sessions in the Meet the Expert series, please view our scheduled events and book your place at future sessions here.

For further information on the Selkie project and network, get in touch with sophie@mentermon.com to find out how the Selkie project may be able to support your business in the marine energy industry.