The Strategic Investment Model

The Strategic Investment Model (SIM) was created as SOWEC's response to recommendations within the 2021 Strategic Investment Assessment. All ScotWind developers signed a Charter to demonstrate their commitment to working in collaboration. In January 2024, SIM participation was extended to Scotland's Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round. 

Since its launch in May 2023, the SIM has made a significant impact in developing the potential of the offshore wind sector. The first of its kind, it was an innovative collaborative approach to tackling the challenges of enabling the significant investment required in infrastructure and supply chain capacity at the scale and speed needed to allow Scotland to meet its ambitions.   

This collaboration and shared understanding was instrumental in developing the direction of the up to £500m of Scottish Government funding for the sector. In addition, a number of the SIM’s priority projects secured a total of circa £60m of public sector investment which has helped leverage additional private funding. These projects include Kishorn Port, XLCC’s Hunterston HVDC cable factory, Subsea Micropiles, Port of Nigg’s Inner East Quay, and the Scapa Deep Water Quay in Orkney.  

The SIM process

Stage 1

In May 2023, a first call for proposals from ports and top tier supply chain companies was launched. 44 applications were received. 

38 of these projects successfully completed Stage 1 which concluded at the start of 2024, each having a completed prospectus from the SIM process. Together these projects had a potential capital value of £6.5bn. 

Stage 2

On 24 January 2024, the SIM announced that an initial three projects would be moving ahead into Stage 2, representing a mix of local and inward investment into ports, port infrastructure and manufacturing. 

On 20 February 2024, the SIM published further information on two of the initial projects selected for Stage 2. 

In addition, it published the names of the other 30 projects which successfully completed Stage 1. Six further projects requested that their names were not shared in the public domain.

Transition 

The offshore wind landscape has evolved significantly since the model was first developed. With the successful completion of the first two stages of the SIM, an options appraisal was undertaken to determine the best path forward. 

Following this exercise and discussions between the SIM Working Group and SOWEC, it was agreed that from November 2025 SOWEC’s core thematic groups - the Supply Chain Development group and Industrial Strategies and Investment group - would lead future collaborative efforts.