New Workshop Targets Subsea Solutions for Offshore Wind

OrbisEnergy in Lowestoft will host the first of a series of workshops on May 3 tackling subsea engineering issues in the offshore wind industry.

With support from the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, organisers are keen to get input and ideas from companies and encourage diversification into the growing and lucrative offshore renewables market.

The day is the first of a series of workshops over the next two years which will cover a range of engineering challenges facing offshore wind, including operations and maintenance, materials and electrical infrastructure.

The workshop runs from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm with a range of expert speakers and sessions to talk through ideas in work groups.

The workshops are being run by SCORE, which offers grants and business support to develop ideas, and are supported by the Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network and ORE Catapult.

Speakers include ORE Catapult senior innovation manager Andy Macdonald, who will outline the challenges, and SCORE project manager Rob Bush who will explain the support, including grants, it can offer to small and medium-sized companies with ideas to improve efficiency and cost savings in the offshore renewable energy sector.

A previous SCORE grant was given to Scour Prevention Systems’ innovative use of recycled car tyres as a low-cost solution for sediment loss around turbine monopoles and cabling.

The Supply Chain Innovation for Offshore Renewable Energy (SCORE) programme is a £6m scheme part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It is led by the Nwes enterprise agency, through delivery partnership with ORE Catapult and energy sector consultants Nautilus Associates.

It is open to companies with fewer than 250 employees and assets of less than 50 million euros. Grants range from £2,000 to £50,000. Applicants can be based anywhere in England, but the impact of their work must benefit the renewables industry in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire.