adrian Gillespie, head of Scottish Enterprise s energy and low-carbon technology division, has vowed to assemble the most convincing case for a newly-announced UK Government offshore energy centre to be based in Scotland. The centre is intended to bridge the gap between development and commercialisation of offshore wind and marine-energy technologies . Gillespie said a heavy-hitting industry-led consortium supported by Scottish Enterprise would respond to the announcement last week by Business Secretary Vince Cable that offshore renewables would be the basis of the third of the strategic ?200 million Technology Innovation Centres (TICs). Professor Jim McDonald, co-chair of the Scottish Government s Energy advisory Board, is also closely involved in the Scottish submission. From June, the Technology Strategy Board will be seeking bids from bodies around the UK for the offshore renewables TIC, and the jobs and investment stemming from it. Gillespie said: Our job is to put together the most convincing case and we feel that Scotland plc has a very strong offer. We know a lot about offshore energy from our experience in the oil and gas sector we know the challenges, especially of keeping the costs down. Gillespie pointed to Scotland s success in attracting a strong research and design base in offshore technology, including participation by Gamesa, SSE, Doosan, Mitsubishi and Iberdrola. The other TICs cover advanced manufacturing and cell therapies.