Innovators developing floating offshore wind technology around the UK’s coastline have received a funding boost of more than £31m from the UK Government today.
Projects based in Scotland will each receive up to £10m for floating offshore wind research that will help maintain the UK as a clean energy leader and accelerate the shift to renewable electricity.
Government funding will be matched by more than £30m of industry funding, with projects in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as across regions in England set to benefit.
UK Government Minister for Scotland Malcolm Offord said: “Scotland is uniquely placed to lead the way in wind power - that's why this investment from the UK Government, matched by industry, is so important.
“Not only will it contribute to the UK's net zero ambitions, it will create and support thousands of high-quality jobs as we transition towards a more sustainable future.”
The Floating Offshore Wind Demonstration is a stepping stone to substantial further growth of floating offshore wind technology in the UK.
Projects will carry out research into innovative mooring, cabling and foundation solutions for floating wind turbines, opening avenues for further investment in this emerging technology and offering export opportunities.
One such project receiving more than £9.6m is a collaborative scheme based in Edinburgh, Belfast, London and Doncaster, developing and demonstrating new mooring system technologies, cable protection, a floating turbine base design and an advanced digital monitoring system.
Meanwhile a joint project in Aberdeen, Cambridge, Feltham and Blyth will get £10m for bringing forward a compact floating turbine foundation and system for attaching it to the seabed that is looking to enable a 2MW or larger turbine to be demonstrated in UK waters.
Aberdeen-based AWC Technology will also receive more than £760,000 to develop a floating offshore wind turbine column designed to reduce construction, installation and maintenance costs.
Today’s announcement follows support for floating offshore wind in the fourth allocation round of the Contracts for Difference scheme, where £24m a year has been ring-fenced for this emerging technology.
It also follows an announcement by the Prime Minister in October for £160m funding to develop and build new large-scale floating offshore wind ports and factories in the UK.
The Floating Offshore Wind Demonstration Programme funding recipients are:
- Copenhagen Offshore Partners (Edinburgh), SSE Renewables (Belfast), Maersk Supply Service Subsea (London) and Bridon Bekaert Ropes Group (Doncaster): £9.65m to develop and demonstrate new mooring system technologies, cable protection, floating turbine base design and an advanced digital monitoring system.
- AWC Technology (Aberdeen): £760,874 to take forward development of an articulated wind turbine column designed to reduce construction, installation and maintenance costs.
- Reflex Marine (Aberdeen) the University of Exeter, Bridon Bekaert Ropes Group (Doncaster) and Wood Thilsted Partners (Godalming): £882,283 for development of a novel anchoring system that will secure floating turbine cables to the seabed at a fraction of the weight of some existing anchors.
- SenseWind (Cambridge), Geodis FF (Feltham), Xodus Group (Aberdeen) and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (Blyth): £10m for a project combining a compact floating foundation with a novel anchoring system attaching it to the seabed and advanced monitoring technology that allows for maintenance to be planned and performed offshore.
- London Marine Consultants and the University of Plymouth: £264,924 to bring to market a mooring system which will simplify the initial installation of floating turbines and enable simple disconnection when maintenance is required.
- Marine Power Systems (Swansea): £3.46m to develop a floating foundation with a small footprint and integrated wave energy generator to improve power quality.
- Cerulean Winds (Guildford): £825,692 for developing an integrated system between the mooring, floating foundation and wind turbine for deployment at an offshore oil and gas facility in the North Sea or West of Shetland.
- Aker Solutions (London): £690,454 for applying cable manufacturing techniques that simplify and cut the cost of offshore installation and developing a subsea substation design connecting floating wind farms to the energy grid.
- Trivane (Newquay), London Marine Consultants, Keynvormorlift (Newquay) and Ledwood (Pembroke Dock): £3.26m for developing a trimaran mounting system for wind turbines.
- JDR Cables (Hartlepool) and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (Blyth): £1.6m for developing and testing electric cabling systems.
- Buoyant Production Technologies (Farnham) and the University of Southampton: £238,724 to demonstrate that a patented design can be used for supporting substation equipment connecting floating wind farms to the energy grid.
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