The yachtswoman and the Annual Conference

For a sailor, Dee Caffari knows a lot about renewable energy.

And so she should, because wind, solar and hydro power helped the former PE teacher become the first woman to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions.

Speaking at Scottish Renewables’ Annual Conference on Wednesday Dee told how the switch from diesel generators to green energy meant boats can now travel further and faster.

She said:

“When I was preparing for the Vendée Globe race in 2008 people questioned whether solar panels were suitable for sailing.

“They said ‘look at the weather: you leave the UK in winter and spend a lot of time in the Southern Ocean where it’s grey all the time, then return to the UK in winter’.
“At the time the weight of the solar panels was a negative when compared to the power they produced.

“They were these big, rectangular things which had to be moved to point in the right direction to generate any power. That’s something that’s just not possible on a moving boat.

“So much has changed now – solar panels can be flexible, and even incorporated into sailcloth. They don’t even need direct sunlight to generate power. In 2008 solar was niche. Now every boat has it.”

Solar isn’t the only renewable energy technology to find a home on the world’s most advanced racing yachts.

Most vessels now carry small wind turbines, but another technology which is more connected to the watery nature of offshore racing has also now become business-as-usual.

Hydro generators hang below the stern of the boat and harness the energy of sea water as it rushes past the hull.

Dee said:

“Again, in 2008 hydro generators weren’t trusted. Captains felt they couldn’t put their faith in this new technology and they would instead rather rely on the old diesel generators.

“Modern racing yachts are incredibly energy-hungry. We need electricity to run autopilot systems, computers, navigation equipment, our communications and to allow us to download all the data we need to help us make the right decisions at sea.

“The demands placed upon the equipment have also increased as the profile of the sport has grown. We’re now expected to be able to broadcast video live from the middle of the oceans so races can be covered by the media, which also uses a lot of electricity.

“In a race like the Vendee Globe, racers are travelling alone and can’t be resupplied. Weight is enormously important and the amount of diesel we carry is key – we need enough to make electricity for all these demands, but the more fuel we carry the heavier, and therefore slower, the boat.

“Using renewable energy like solar, wind and hydro means we don’t need to take those fossil fuels and can travel much lighter.”

Dee also told how the impact of climate change was something the sailing community weren’t able to ignore.

She said:

“The influence of humans is everywhere at sea, and it’s impossible for us to ignore. We see first-hand the debris floating in the oceans, and that actually causes us issues as we have to try to avoid it.

“We see the depletion of marine life, and we see the ice retreating in the Southern Ocean.

“There’s an awareness that as sailors we play in a wonderful playground and we need to protect and promote it, so we do all we can to minimise the environmental impacts of the boats once they’re built.”

Day two of Scottish Renewables’ Annual Conference, at which Dee provided the Guest Lecture, also heard from industry leaders on the future of the industry in Scotland, the UK and further afield:

• 
  Gavin Slater, Group Manager – City Energy, Glasgow City Council, described the city’s Smart Street project, which is bringing together warmth, smart tech, sustainable transport and renewables to deliver on the EU-funded Horizon 2020 RUGGEDISED project, which he leads
• Lindsay McQuade, Policy & Innovation Director at ScottishPower Renewables, said that while corporate PPA’s were important they shouldn’t be seen as our only Plan B but rather “much further towards the other end of the alphabet”
• Chris Stark, the Scottish Government’s Director of Energy and Climate Change, presented on the draft Scottish Energy Strategy, saying that the “big ambitions on climate from government must resonate in boardrooms and in living rooms." He also described his “tremendous excitement” at the challenge faced in decarbonising heat and transport
• Neil Kermode, Managing Director of Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre, described how one in ten homes on the islands generate their own power, calling Orkney "a very energy-articulate society"
• Alex Murley, EMR Programme Manager for innogy renewables, talked about the company’s North Sea offshore turbines, which can power down from 100% to zero in 0.8 seconds and achieve full power again 12 seconds later, adding: “That's more flexible than [gas] CCGT and shows wind can absolutely play in flexibility markets”
• Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has been involved in half of all global corporate PPAs signed to date. Senior Consultant Andrew Hedges joined Mark Vyvyan Robinson, Director of Development and Investments at EDF Energy Renewables, the event’s headline sponsor, in calling for calm around the potential opportunity, saying: “The optimism needs to be tempered. In most cases today for corporates, the price gap is just too large”

Day one of the conference, held in Edinburgh, also contained industry wisdom:

RES CEO Ivor Catto said: “The past is often a good predictor of the future and we have consistently underestimated the industry's ability to reduce costs and the ability of innovation to drive percentage growth.

Those cost reductions show no signs of tapering off or reducing, and we can