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This month's dispatch from the leading edge of offshore wind, wave and tidal innovation - delivered straight to your inbox.

 

GE Renewable Energy strengthens Catapult partnership  

GE nacelle and the 15MW
GE Renewable Energy's Haliade 150-6MW nacelle arrives in Blyth.

 

GE Renewable Energy and the Catapult have agreed a four-year research partnership worth £9 million that aims to minimise the time spent offshore by offshore wind technicians.

The "Stay Ashore!" programme will improve safety and reduce operating costs for offshore wind farms by focusing on three key research pillars: world-class reliability by design, reducing the need to go offshore for unplanned events, and using robotics for planned maintenance.

"This latest research partnership between GE Renewable Energy and the Government’s ORE Catapult is a fine example of how we’re working with industry to embrace cutting-edge technology to ensure the UK offshore sector stays ahead of the pack," said Claire Perry, Minister for Energy and Clean Growth.

"As part of our modern Industrial Strategy we’re putting the finishing touches to our Offshore Wind Sector Deal to create the right business conditions to export this type of expertise around the world to ensure this sector goes from strength to strength.” 

 

Read the full story on our website

 SPARTA Portfolio Review shines spotlight on offshore wind farm performance

SPARTA Portfolio Review 201718
The Portfolio Review highlights offshore wind energy generation and carbon reduction
contributions of SPARTA wind farms in 2017/18.

The second annual Portfolio Review from SPARTA (System Performance, Availability and Reliability Trend Analysis) has highlighted the vital contribution made by offshore wind to the UK's energy generation and carbon reduction targets.

The report summarises key insights from the world's first benchmarking platform for offshore wind farms, which is managed by the Catapult and The Crown Estate. Highlights from the data include: 

  • UK offshore wind farms that report data to SPARTA produced over 15TWh of energy, enough to power 4 million homes.
  • They contributed to a 5.8% reduction in CO2 emissions, equivalent to 4 million tonnes of CO2 abated.
  • The average amount of potential energy a turbine is extracting from the wind is 94.5%.

SPARTA is actively seeking to widen its membership and reporting outside of the UK. Offshore wind owner/operators not currently involved in the project are invited to join the group and should contact The Crown Estate or ORE Catapult in the first instance.

Download the SPARTA Porfolio Review 2017/18

 

Refreshed roadmaps direct UK businesses towards new opportunities 

shutterstock_130553408resize
The global offshore wind sector is expected to be worth £30bn p/a by 2030.

 

In an update to the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub's technology innovation roadmaps, the Catapult has identified four new offshore wind innovation priorities for UK businesses looking to seize opportunities in the sector.

In the O&M and Wind Farm Lifecycle sphere, the Catapult has targeted project development, reducing ecological impact and uncertainty, and decommissioning. Enabling research has also been targeted as key to offshore wind's development in the UK.

“The new roadmap elements we’ve introduced offer even more opportunities for companies to get involved in the success story that has been the UK’s offshore wind sector,” said Stephen Wyatt, the Catapult's Research & Innovation Director. "With a UK market expected to be worth £4.9bn annually by 2030, and £30bn globally, this represents a huge business opportunity for UK companies to reap the rewards domestically and in new global export markets, creating GVA and high value jobs across the country.”

Find out more about  the roadmaps

 

Free access to world-leading test facilities up for grabs through MaRINET2

ORE Catapult's HV Electrical Lab
The Catapult's HV & Electrical Lab is one of the facilities available through MaRINET2.
 

The third call for MaRINET2 is open until Friday 14th December, giving successful wave and tidal energy developers the chance to access the Catapult's world-leading testing and validation facilities free of charge.

Our 50m Blade Test Facility, HV & Electrical Laboratory, and subsea docks are among the sites enrolled in the Horizon 2020-backed research programme. 

For details on eligibility criteria, how to apply, and other participating testing facilities, click below to visit the MaRINET2 website.

 

Apply for free-of-charge  access to our test facilites

Supply Chain Event Series: last remaining places available

Martin Whitmarsh describes the offshore wind supply chain opportunities at an ORE Catapult event in Aberdeen 

Former McLaren Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh addresses the Offshore Wind Supply Chain event in Aberdeen earlier this month.
 

Our series of events highlighting the enormous opportunities for UK companies in the offshore wind supply chain is approaching its end, with the final two dates taking place in Norwich and Hull on Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th December respectively.

Led by the former McLaren Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh, the events follow on from the recent launch of the Offshore Wind Industry Prospectus. Find out more about the events, find summary agendas, and register your attendance below.

Find out more about   the Offshore Wind Supply   Chain Roadshows

 Remote supervision: demonstration and support opportunities

Levenmouth Photo - Julian 2

Successful companies will have the chance to demonstrate their technology on the Levenmouth turbine. 

The Catapult is opening up the Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine to developers of novel remote supervision systems so that they can prove, demonstrate and commercialise their technology.
 

Minimising the costs, health and safety risks and turbine downtime associated with offshore wind O&M is a major industry priority. Remote supervision has been identified as one of the key innovations that can reduce risk and cut costs by allowing technicians to communicate in real-time with supervisors or equipment providers on land. These technologies exist in other industries, but need to be demonstrated in an offshore wind environment before being rolled out commercially.

 

To support technology developers, as part of the Remote Supervisory Systems project the Catapult is making the Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine available for the demonstration or validation of any system that supports remote supervision, including:

  • Video technology
  • Camera technology
  • Audio technology
  • Software systems
  • Augmented reality systems.

Find out more and apply

 

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