Four offshore wind technology projects have been awarded grants under UK Department of Energy and Climate Change's 'Offshore Component Technologies Scheme' which aims to promote the development of innovative technologies that can reduce the cost of offshore wind.
DECC says the funding is expected to leverage substantial amounts of private sector investment for each winning offshore wind technology and to enable them to move to commercial deployment.
2-B Energy has been awarded £2 792 280 to develop a two-bladed turbine (pictured, above) supported by a full truss steel foundation for offshore wind applications.
This approach has the potential to reduce the levelised cost of offshore wind energy by up to 35%. The pilot will be trialled onshore in the Netherlands initially, then the technology is expected to be tested at an offshore site near Methil, Fife. 2-B Energy has secured an overall investment package of €26.5 million to help commercialise its offshore wind technology. The funding consortium comprises a collaborative, multi-national group of private and public sector partners, including 2-B's current majority shareholder and lead investor Truffle Capital, and minority partners PPM Oost and Shell, Rabobank, Agentchap, and Scottish Enterprise as well as DECC.
High Voltage Partial Discharge Ltd has been awarded £900 370 to develop and trial monitoring technology that will provide early warning of faults in HVDC cables and direct preventative maintenance to help improve operating efficiency. The project will be led by HVPD of Manchester in partnership with Alstom Grid, The University of Strathclyde and a number of European HVDC cable operators.
SgurrControl Ltd has been awarded £667 000 to develop a control system that will reduce the stress placed on turbine blades. The aim is to increase the lifetime of wind turbines and reduce the cost of energy. The project will be led by SgurrControl in partnership with Romax Technology and Blaaster Wind Technologies.
Ocean Resource Ltd has been awarded £216 442 to develop an offshore wind turbine that is assembled and commissioned onshore and towed fully assembled for site installation using tugs. Onshore commissioning and the elimination of heavy lift installation vessels offer the potential for the design to reduce the levelised cost of offshore wind energy for the UK and overseas markets by up to 15%, says DECC.
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