Aberdeen (Platts)--21May2008

Recent spikes in oil prices have intensified competition for limited
supply chain resources among offshore wind, oil and gas and onshore wind
projects, analyst John Westwood of UK consulting firm Douglas-Westwood said
Wednesday.

"The UK could be the world's biggest market for offshore wind. But at
$100-plus/barrel for oil, the oil and gas sector could drag resources away
from renewable energy," he told the the All-Energy Conference in Aberdeen,
Scotland. "Renewable energy is competing with other energy sources for
steel, copper and people. There has been a massive underinvestment in skills
from metal welders to engineers." he said.

Despite these obstacles, renewable energy offers "major opportunities,"
he said, noting that renewables are now a $100 billion/year industry and
citing Morgan Stanley estimates that renewables could be a $1 trillion/year
business by 2030. "This is big, serious money," he said.