Offshore Wind Growth Partnership

AI tools for power and utility transmission planning

Business profile

Tech company providing software solutions to power and utility Companies.

Team of 35+ based in the UK and the US

Already active in Offshore Wind (alongside electricity, water and hydrogen), looking to consolidate their international customer base.

Support recieved
Grant Funding
Continuum Industries is an AI company accelerating the global energy transition by helping infrastructure developers and utilities to accelerate and de-risk their project planning programmes while minimising the impact on the environment and communities. In the context of offshore wind, their tool, Optioneer, is designed specifically to support the planning of wind farm grid connection options – which can be a significant bottleneck to project development. Their grant from OWGP allowed the company to test and further develop the platform’s functionality – focusing on onshore export cable routes and substation construction.

Solutions for the offshore wind industry

The Optioneer tool analyses millions of potential cable routes for Wind Farm grid connection to narrow down the most cost-effective, environmentally conscious options.

User-friendly interactive tool designed for stakeholder engagement during the consenting process.

150+ users to date, with clients including bp-EnBW consortium, Mainstream Renewable Power, Muir Mhòr Offshore Wind Farm.

A closer look at Continuum Industries

The combination of vast computing power, geospatial data, and human intuition unlocks unique insights throughout projects, from conception to completion.

This includes generating a shortlist of viable routing options from millions of alternatives in just a matter of hours, real-time iteration of designs as new data arises, recording key decisions and mitigating against
unforeseen delays at later stages.

Impact of the support

Tested and released new software functionality for onshore export cable routes and substations to help developers efficiently design their own onshore connections.

OWGP support, alongside overall platform development and a strong commercial strategy, helped Continuum Industries raising £8m Series A capital.

Strategic platform developments to help reach into new horizons in US and Europe.

Before

Before OWGP’s support, the Company had worked in partnership on a number of power, transmission and utility projects – mostly in Scotland and England. Continuum Industries had seen good uptake for their Optioneer software in the UK, and were growing an engaged customer base in Offshore Wind.

During

The OWGP grant allowed Continuum Industries to test and launch advanced features within Optioneer to empower offshore wind developers to efficiently explore a broader range of onshore export cable route options and substation sites during the early stages of development and consent process. These elements play a pivotal role in the onshore infrastructure necessary for offshore wind projects and significantly impact the success of consent applications for new developments.

After

Expanding Optioneer’s functionalities to include onshore export cable routing has not only deepened their integration within customers’ organisations, but has also broadened its applicability across various project stages. This strategic enhancement positioned them to seize new contract opportunities and further solidify their presence in the market. Overall development of the platform and a clear commercial strategy helped Continuum to demonstrate growth potential to private investors, raising £8m Series A capital. Continuum Industries now has plans to further
expand internationally into the European and the US offshore wind markets.

“The OWGP grant helped us to strategically allocate resources towards the development of crucial functionalities, dedicated to serving our customers within the offshore wind industry and expanding our reach into new horizons. In the next few years, we aim to bring a complete platform for infrastructure development to our customers. It will build on the foundations of  network and project development but continue to support the consenting/permitting process, public consultation, and environmental analysis.”

GRZEGORZ MARECKI, Continuum Industries
CEO & Co-founder