Companies and academic institutions active in the offshore wind industry – or seeking market entry – are invited to bid for a slice of £4.2m (€5.2m) in funding from the UK Technology Strategy Board (TSB).
Two types of funding are currently available, both part of a wider £11.2m package of UK government and TSB funds designed to support cost-reducing innovation in offshore wind.
Up to £3m of the £4.2m pot has been earmarked for "technical feasibility studies" lasting up to a year. Winning bids will receive up to £100,000 to support "pre-industrial research" focused on technological solutions with the potential to reduce offshore wind’s cost of energy.
Bids from organisations active in "parallel sectors" are welcomed, alongside those from organisations already active in offshore wind. The TSB has identified four industries as likely to include companies with innovative ideas applicable to offshore wind: aerospace, automotive, defence, and oil and gas.
Meanwhile, £1.2m is available for the creation of "knowledge transfer partnerships" designed to stimulate supply chain innovation, in part by improving communication between private sector companies and academic researchers.
Topics that could be the focus of winning knowledge transfer partnership bids include: underwater noise, marine life collision risk, data access and management, cost-effective monitoring, and cumulative impact assessment.
This fund is open to other marine energy technologies, such as wave and tidal, as well as offshore wind.
TSB is organising a briefing event in London on 13 November to discuss the funding opportunities more fully with organisations interested in bidding.
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