The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) has launched a new grant funding programme that aims to develop the UK’s offshore wind supply chain by supporting the consenting and site development process.
OWGP has released its first Innovation Grants competition, which will see a total of £3m awarded to successful supply chain companies.
Innovation Grants from £25K to £100K are available for projects focused on commercialising technologies, products and services that will accelerate offshore wind site development during the consenting phase.
Potential activities include, but are not limited to, site selection, screening/scoping, surveying, impact assessment and ongoing monitoring and mitigation.
This latest tranche of funding builds on the £6m already allocated across four separate funding competitions launched in the last 18 months.
Cognitive Business is an innovative SME successful in securing OWGP grant funding in 2019 and 2020.
They are developing a machine learning solutions for the sector to improve health and safety and reduce the levelised cost of energy.
Cognitive Business managing director Ty Burridge-Oakland said: “Without the OWGP’s funding and support, Cognitive would not have been able to innovate an important AI technology that has been shown to deliver real value through critical decision-making support in the challenging and complex offshore environment, and gain traction within the industry.”
OWGP board director and ORE Catapult research and disruptive innovation director Stephen Wyatt said: “Today’s announcement focuses on a major opportunity for innovative UK businesses who are tackling the challenges associated with offshore wind site development.
Growing the UK’s innovative offshore wind supply chain is essential in enhancing the UK’s world-leading position in offshore wind, and this new programme is a great chance for these companies to unlock growth potential through technology commercialisation.”