- £2m in Innovation Grants awarded to 15 UK Companies
- £2m Development Grant Competition opens to new applicants
24th May 2023
Fifteen UK businesses have today secured a share of £2 million Innovation Grant funding from the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) – the selected Companies will be supported by OWGP on projects that could improve the reliability of offshore wind and help decarbonise its operations1.
In addition, OWGP is launching a separate £2 million Development Grant today, which provides up to £500k for UK applicants that can demonstrate significant growth potential in the offshore wind sector.
OWGP is a long-term business transformation programme established in 2019 to grow the UK’s offshore wind supply chain. Funding and structured business support programmes from the OWGP have led to the commercialisation of UK products, contract wins and exports for successful participants who want to establish or further develop their offering for the offshore wind market.
The 15 projects securing funding from the latest Innovation Grant focussed specifically on the challenges of reliability and decarbonisation. These projects will work towards a range of commercial solutions, spanning:
- Charging stations for electric vessels operating offshore, reducing the need for diesel-powered craft.
- Software to accurately predict weather conditions at sea, improving the safety and efficiency of offshore wind farm/s.
- Robots and remotely operated vehicles to inspect and analyse wind turbines, improving safety for offshore workers and diagnosing faults faster.
OWGP’s funding competitions and business transformation programmes are funded by members of the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) and delivered by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult. The latest Innovation Grant has been championed by leading three major Developers with global offshore wind portfolios – Equinor, Ocean Winds and ScottishPower Renewables.
Sophie Banham, Offtake Director for Dogger Bank D Wind Farm at Equinor, and vice-Chair of the Offshore Wind Industry Council, said:
“The diversity of organisations that came forward for the OWGP’s latest competition showcases the ability of the UK’s supply chain to support the growth of wind power. The outputs of the latest Innovation Grant could lead to new technologies emerging in the UK that address some critical challenges facing the sector.
Innovators across the UK supply chain are already helping industry progress with wind farms like our Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the North East, as well as numerous other UK wind farm developments. Thanks to the work of organisations like OWGP, the supply chain and offshore wind developers have even more opportunities to work together on world-leading renewable energy projects – bringing forward new ideas and expertise to deliver them.”
The newly launched OWGP Development Grants of up to £500k per project are open to UK applicants until the 21st July 2023.
For more information on eligibility and how to apply, visit https://owgp.org.uk/about/grant-funding/ There will also be a Briefing Webinar on 1st June 2023 between 2pm-3pm: register here to join
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1 – The 15 projects awarded Innovation Grant funding from OWGP are listed below:
| Competition Theme: Improved Reliability | |
| Company | Project |
| Anakata | Infra-red aerodynamic audit of turbine blades, quantifying lost energy production from leading edge erosion and diagnosing the best remedial solution. |
| Aquaterra Energy | Utilising unleveraged Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) data to intelligently feedback on the condition of critical wind farm components and infrastrucute. |
| Bladebug | Remote robotic ultrasonic non-destructive inspection of wind turbine blades. |
| ELEVEN-I | Condition monitoring system of offshore wind turbine blades. |
| Fennex | A cloud-based solution to improve safety performance and operational reliability across the offshore wind industry. |
| Flexlife | Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) tooling to repair the outer sheath of offshore wind components such as dynamic cables. |
| Ilosta | Physics-based AI model to improve wind turbine blade health monitoring. |
| JET Connectivity | Accurate vertical weather profiling at offshore wind sites, streamed over 5G |
| JR Dynamics | Redefining critical approaches to critical bolting installation and monitoring. |
| Sonardyne | Integrated mooring and dynamic cable condition monitoring system for floating wind assets. |
| Waukesha Bearings | Testing of hydrodynamic bearings for offshore wind turbines. |
| Competition Theme: Decarbonisation | |
| MJR Controls | Developing offshore charging stations to power electric vehicles for crew transfer. |
| Sealand Projects | Carbon Mapping software to capture carbon footprint of offshore wind marine traffic. |
| Verlume | Using subsea energy storage to create a charging and communication station for battery-operated remote vehicles at sea. |
| Wood Thilsted | Use of timber internal platforms for offshore wind substructures, instead of carbon-intensive steel. |
About the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership:
The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) is a long-term business transformation programme that has been established as part of the UK Offshore Wind Sector Deal. It will promote closer collaboration across the supply chain, implement structured productivity improvement programmes and facilitate shared growth opportunities between developers and the supply chain.
Over the next ten years delivery will focus on direct support to supply chain companies through a combination of strategic capability assessments, advisory services and grant funding. Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult will manage the delivery of OWGP with support from specialist delivery partners.
OWGP plays a key role in delivery of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal and is funded by members of the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC), with a budget of £100m over ten years. The programme supports the growth of UK businesses looking to capitalise on the huge opportunities offered by the global offshore wind sector.
Over 1200 companies have now registered an interest with OWGP programmes to date. For more information and to apply, visit the OWGP website: https://owgp.org.uk/about/funding-opportunities/
About the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult
ORE Catapult was established in 2013 by the UK Government and is part of a network of Catapults set up by Innovate UK in high growth industries. It is the UK’s leading innovation centre for offshore renewable energy.
Independent and trusted, with a unique combination of world-leading test and demonstration facilities and engineering and research expertise, ORE Catapult convenes the sector and delivers applied research, accelerating technology development, reducing risk and cost and enhancing UK-wide economic growth.
Active throughout the UK, ORE Catapult has operations in Glasgow, Blyth, Levenmouth, Aberdeen, Hull, the South West and Wales.
About the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC)
A senior Government and industry forum, OWIC was established in 2013 to drive the development of the world-leading offshore wind sector in the UK.