The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) has released its latest Innovation Grants competition, which will see a total of £1m awarded to successful UK supply chain companies to develop new products and services for the offshore wind sector.
The OWGP Innovation Grant will be supported by offshore wind industry champions Ocean Winds and ScottishPower Renewables which have expressed an interest in the innovation themes.
Innovation Grants between £25k to £200k are available for projects that focus on future cables, electrical systems, next-generation installation and operations & maintenance technologies.
The scope of the Innovation Grant call reflects the high growth areas within the Supply Chain Capability Analysis and the recently published Offshore Wind Industrial Growth Plan, which sets out how the UK can create thousands of jobs in offshore wind manufacturing and billions in economic value over the next decade.
Grants will be available to UK companies which are already active in the offshore wind supply chain or seeking to diversify into the sector.
They will be awarded on a competitive basis, with successful proposals demonstrating near-to-market or market ready solutions and a clear ambition for growth in the sector.
Eligible applicants can request up to £200k in a single grant application to cover up to 50% of the total project budget.
“Ocean Winds is thrilled to support again this initiative for progress in the growing offshore wind sector,” said the company’s innovation & entrepreneurship director Daniel Santa Cruz Prego de Oliver.
“Now more than ever, as we stand at the heart of the construction phase of 2GW of offshore wind in the United Kingdom and in France, innovation propels Ocean Winds to secure efficiency and safety in our journey to generating clean energy from offshore wind.
“This presents an excellent opportunity for us to champion innovation across the sector.”
Global innovation lead, offshore wind business at Iberdrola Angela Angulo added: “ScottishPower Renewables are delighted to champion the latest Innovation Grant from OWGP.
“Following the launch of the Industrial Growth Plan, this is a great opportunity to support the development of innovative solutions to accelerate the growth of a competitive offshore wind supply chain.”