A UK government-funded programme that is incorporating composite-based components in the next-generation of offshore wind turbines has secured a new £4.7m investment.
Joule Challenge’s focus is on the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of composite towers for 20MW floating offshore wind turbines and the route to market for this technology.
Funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), the new £4.7m 18-month phase of the programme brings together UK Government, offshore wind industry experts and the composite supply chain.
Joule Challenge is being delivered by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult and the National Composites Centre (NCC), part of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult.
The project has already delivered valuable learning in outlining the range of potentially significant benefits made possible by using composite materials instead of steel.
These potential benefits include combining a 1500 tonne mass reduction with a cost reduction of over £1m for each tower, or around 4% compared to steel baseline designs and reducing the environmental impact of the tower manufacturing process.
The new phase of the Joule Challenge will aim to deliver the design and manufacturing of a 12-metre composite tower, located at ORE Catapult’s testing facility in Blyth, where multiple components will be tested together.
Phil Slack, Head of Energy at the National Composites Centre, said: “The composite turbine tower developed in Joule has the potential to revolutionise the UK wind industry.
“It will reduce the cost of energy and the carbon associated with wind turbines.
“This will enable the UK supply chain to serve turbine OEMs with a cost and mass competitive product, which in turn will create and maintain a wide range of job opportunities.
“This new phase in the Joule programme is instrumental in proving this technology at scale.”