The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) has launched two new funding calls totalling over £2m.
The industry-funded R&D initiative has issued an open call for UK companies already working in the offshore wind sector to grow their market share through increased competitiveness and development of new products or services.
A separate call is looking at bringing bring technology and companies from other sectors into offshore wind.
Successful applicants will have access to funding totalling £600k for both calls and will also benefit from business transformation support activities through the £1.5m Sharing in Growth Programme, the OWGP said.
“Many engineering sectors have been badly hit by the pandemic and support from OWGP can ensure that the best of UK engineering from all industries can develop UK IP in a sector that is set for strong global growth,” said OWGP chair Martin Whitmarsh.
This new round of funding builds on pilot funding calls held this January which saw seven supply chain companies share £400k in funding.
That money was allocated to projects aiming to drive cost reduction from advanced manufacturing techniques and develop advanced sensors and communications solutions for offshore wind.
The OWGP was launched in June 2019 and is a key part of the Sector Deal between industry and Government and is funded by the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) with a budget of £100m over a ten-year period.
OWIC Sponsor for the OWGP and vice president for the Dogger Bank Development at Equinor, Halfdan Brustad, said the Sharing in Growth programme and the new calls each offer excellent opportunities for companies looking to capitalize on the growth of offshore wind in the UK and abroad.
“OWIC has huge expectations from the OWGP and looks forward to seeing the projects that come through these programmes and how they may be applied to UK offshore wind farms,” Brustad added.