UK’s New Offshore Renewables Hub Gets GBP 4 Million Grant

The Supergen ORE Hub has received GBP 4 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as support for offshore renewable energy research.

The Supergen ORE Hub is a national consortium created in July last year to bring together academic, industrial and policy stakeholders to champion and maintain UK’s offshore wind, wave and tidal expertise.

The new grant adds to the initially awarded GBP 5 million and will allow extra funding through the Hub’s Flexible Fund, providing grants of up to GBP 100,000 to complement existing research, fill gaps or add cross-cutting activities to explore the transfer of research findings between sectors.

It will also enable additional post-doctoral researchers to be employed across ten partner universities, expanding the Hub’s Early Career Researchers network.

Furthermore, more money will be invested into the Hub’s Research Landscape, an interactive tool designed to create a database of offshore renewable research taking place at UK universities and other organizations.

“By working closely with scientists and policy makers, we can tap into their knowledge and expertise to benefit large and small companies working across the UK and beyond,” said Ross Wigg, Chair of Supergen ORE Advisory Board and Renewables Director – Asset Performance at LOC Group.

“The Supergen ORE Hub is an excellent example of this collaborative approach in action, and I believe this additional funding can be used to help the whole sector achieve its full potential.”

The Supergen ORE Hub includes academics from the University of Plymouth, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Exeter, Hull, Manchester, Oxford, Southampton, Strathclyde, and Warwick. It is also working with an advisory board made up of industry leaders, policy makers and other stakeholders.