£60m for floating offshore wind

The floating offshore wind projects will receive more than £60 million in public and private investment to develop new technologies that will allow the turbines to be sited in the windiest parts of the UK coastline.

The UK government is today (Tuesday 25 January) announcing 11 successful projects which will each receive up to £10million, as it offers £31.6million to increase the amount of clean renewable energy generated in the country. On top of that, industry will match the investment, bringing the total to over £60m, which will boost investment in green energy and improve parts of the country, including Aberdeen, Swansea and Yorkshire.

The cash boost will allow research and development into floating offshore wind to continue with projects across the UK set to receive funding that will accelerate the deployment of turbines in the seas around the UK. The research will focus on areas such as how the turbines are moored to the seabed, underwater cabling and the development of foundation solutions.

The UK is already home to the largest deployment of offshore wind turbines in the world, but floating turbines, which can be deployed in deeper waters than conventional turbines, will further increase energy capacity by allowing wind farms to be sited in new areas around the UK coastline where wind forces are highest and most productive.

With global gas prices at record highs, the UK is determined to further strengthen energy security by deploying local renewable technologies to reduce our dependence on volatile fossil fuels.

Energy Minister Greg Hands said:

We are already a world leader in offshore wind and floating technology is key to unlocking the full potential of the seas around Britain.

These innovative projects will help us develop more and faster renewables across the UK and help reduce our exposure to volatile global gas prices.

By spurring development now through the Floating Offshore Wind Demonstration Programme, the costs of building and locating floating turbines in deep water areas will come down faster, expanding the UK supply chain and supporting the goal of the Prime Minister’s ten-point plan to deliver 1GW of energy from floating offshore wind by 2030.

One such project receiving over £9.6m is a collaborative program with bases in Edinburgh, Belfast, London and Doncaster, developing and demonstrating new technologies for mooring floating turbines to the seabed, protecting cables, a basic floating turbine design and advanced digital monitoring. system.

Another project with bases in Cambridge, Feltham, Aberdeen and Blyth will receive £10million for proposing a compact floating turbine foundation and anchors which will likely allow a 2MW or larger turbine to be demonstrated in the waters British.

Today’s announcement follows support for floating offshore wind as part of the fourth award round of the Contracts for Difference scheme – the government’s flagship renewable energy auction program – where €24 million pounds per year have been set aside for this emerging technology. It also follows the Prime Minister’s announcement in October of £160 million in funding to develop and build new ports and large-scale floating offshore wind farms in the UK.

Deborah Greaves, Director of the Supergen ORE Hub, said:

I am delighted that the Floating Offshore Wind Demonstration Program is supporting new projects in key areas of research and innovation for the ORE sector.

The new projects are well aligned with the research landscape of the Supergen ORE hub and demonstrate the great benefit to the sector of academics and industry experts working closely together – using their combined knowledge and expertise – to advance the UK Net Zero strategy.

Notes to editors

• Funding for the Floating Offshore Wind Demonstration Program competition is part of the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio which aims to accelerate the commercialization of innovative low-carbon technologies, systems and processes in the energy sectors. energy, buildings and industry.
• the government has previously supported innovation in the floating wind sector in the UK through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, with £2m allocated over 2 years to the wind center of excellence offshore floating catapult for offshore renewable energy

Beneficiaries of Floating Offshore Wind Demonstration Program Funding

1. JDR Cables (Hartlepool) and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (Blyth): £1,606,711 for the development and testing of electrical cabling systems.
2. Buoyant Production Technologies (Farnham) and the University of Southampton: £238,724 to demonstrate that a patented design can be used to support substation equipment connecting floating wind farms to the power grid.
3. AWC Technology (Aberdeen): £760,874 to advance the development of an articulated wind turbine column designed to reduce construction, installation and maintenance costs.
4. Reflex Marine (Aberdeen) the University of Exeter, Bridon Bekaert Ropes Group (Doncaster) and Wood Thilsted Partners (Godalming): £882,283 for the development of a new anchoring system that will secure floating turbine cables to the bottom sailor at a fraction of the weight of some existing anchors.
5. 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 allow simple disconnection in the event of maintenance.
6. Copenhagen Offshore Partners (Edinburgh), SSE Renewables (Belfast), Maersk Supply Service Subsea (London) and Bridon Bekaert Ropes Group (Doncaster): £9,656,980 to develop and demonstrate new mooring system technologies, cable protection , floating turbine core design and advanced digital monitoring system.
7. Marine Power Systems (Swansea): £3,466,083 to develop a floating foundation with a small footprint and an integrated wave power generator to improve power quality.
8. Cerulean Winds (Guildford): £825,692 for the development of an integrated system between mooring, floating foundation and wind turbine to be deployed at an offshore oil and gas installation in the North Sea or West Shetland.
9. SenseWind (Cambridge), Geodis FF (Feltham), Xodus Group (Aberdeen) and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (Blyth): £10,000,000 for a project combining a compact floating foundation with a new anchoring system securing it to the seabed and advanced monitoring technology that allows maintenance to be planned and carried out at sea, saving on towing costs to shore. A turbine of 2 MW or more will be demonstrated in UK waters.
10. Aker Solutions (London): £690,454 for the application of cable manufacturing techniques that simplify and reduce the cost of offshore installation and the development of an underwater substation design connecting floating wind farms to the electrical network.
11. Trivane Ltd (Newquay), London Marine Consultants, Keynvormorlift (Newquay) and Ledwood (Pembroke Dock): £3,268,058 for the development of a trimaran mounting system for wind turbines.

Learn more about the projects,