The UK’s national innovation agency Innovate UK has announced a coordinated support package worth £27 million for offshore wind innovation, combining a funding competition, a new innovation hub and a large-scale manufacturing research centre.
The package includes an initial £10 million competition under the Offshore Wind Innovation Programme, a new £5 million Wind Innovation Hub incorporating a £2 million accelerator fund, and support for phase one of the National Composites Centre’s Large Structures Innovation Centre (LSIC), backed by £10 million from Innovate UK and a further £2 million from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The Offshore Wind Innovation Programme targets technology areas identified in the UK’s Offshore Wind Industrial Growth Plan, including advanced turbine technology, next-generation foundations and substructures, future electrical systems and cables, smart environmental services, and innovation in installation, operations and maintenance. Winners of the first competition are due to be announced later this year.
The Wind Innovation Hub will be delivered through a partnership between the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, led by the National Composites Centre and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland. Its accelerator fund will provide targeted technical support to high-growth companies entering or operating in the sector.
The LSIC, based on the Isle of Wight, is an open-access facility for developing and de-risking manufacturing methods for large structures at full industrial scale, starting with wind energy. Vestas has been announced as the centre’s first industry launch partner, extending its collaboration with the NCC on blade innovation. “Offshore wind is the backbone of our future energy system,” said energy minister Michael Shanks, adding that the package is intended to support jobs, manufacturing and the shift to domestically produced power.
