Key green energy event will attract 800 to Edinburgh for 23 sessions over two days ---- ABB announced as headline sponsor

Power technology leader ABB is to be the headline sponsor of Scottish Renewables' Annual Conference on March 24-25 – in the year the company starts work on both the £520m subsea Caithness-Moray power cable and the grid connection for Europe's largest tidal energy project off Scotland's north coast.

More than 800 delegates will flock to Edinburgh for the two-day conference, which this year features 75 speakers across 23 sessions.

Topics to be discussed – as well as the results of the first Contracts for Difference allocation round – include:

* Funding and finance
* Technology
* Cost reduction
* Community involvement
* Shared ownership
* Grid
* Innovation
* Sustainability
* Subsidy
* Collaboration
* Planning
* Competition
* Interconnection
* The General Election

Jillian McKenna, Director of Marketing at Scottish Renewables, told how the event "brings together the best and brightest in renewables in Scotland".

She said: "Our Annual Conference has consistently acted as a crucible for some of the most innovative thinking in the industry, and we're delighted to announce that ABB are to be headline sponsor in 2015, further reinforcing their commitment and investment in Scotland".

"Scotland's ambitious climate change targets and our enviable natural resources make this the perfect place to develop cutting-edge technology, and it's great to have ABB on board as they prepare to do just that with the Caithness-Moray subsea interconnector cable and the MeyGen project."

SSE's Caithness-Moray HVDC (high voltage direct current) link is the largest investment in the north of Scotland's electricity network since the 1950s, and will carry up to 1,200 megawatts of electricity. ABB has also been awarded the contract to build a new high voltage 275/132kV substation on the same site as the Spittal converter station, south of Thurso.

ABB is also providing the onshore power conversion and grid connection systems for Phase One of the MeyGen tidal stream project in Scotland's Inner Pentland Firth for Atlantis Resources Limited.

Stephen Trotter, ABB's Managing Director, Power Systems UK, said: "Scotland faces significant challenges in strengthening its power infrastructure to accommodate the rapid growth in electricity generation from renewable sources.

"As a global leader in grid systems, we are responding to this demand by participating in a number of high profile projects. This Annual Conference is the ideal platform to demonstrate our commitment to building a long-term presence in Scotland and highlight ABB's services and technologies."

For more information on Scottish Renewables' Annual Conference, Exhibition and Dinner, which takes place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on March 24 and 25, and for details of pricing and tickets, please see http://www.scottishrenewables.com/events/ac15/.