Scottish govt provides GBP 2m for offshore wind innovation

The Scottish government on Tuesday announced up to GBP 2 million (USD 2.6m/EUR 2.3m) in grant funding to support innovation in the offshore wind sector.

The funding has been allocated to offshore wind programmes at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, Carbon Trust's Offshore Wind Accelerator, and Energy Skills Partnership.

"Scotland has massive offshore wind potential and this funding will help ensure that our world-leading offshore wind sector develops successfully and sustainably," said Economy Secretary Keith Brown, who was speaking at the 2018 Global Offshore Wind Conference and Exhibition.

Separately, ORE Catapult unveiled a GBP-1.3-million programme of four innovation projects intended to advance Scotland's offshore wind sector. The programme is funded by GBP 445,000 from the Scottish government, GBP 150,000 from industry partners including Fergusons Marine Engineering, CWind and WOOD, and match funding from ORE Catapult.

ORE Catapult said the projects will focus on next generation crew transfer and service vessels, a technology accelerator programme, investigating alternative communication and remote supervisory systems, and establishing a "Fit for Offshore" business excellence programme to enable the Scottish supply chain to access offshore wind commercial opportunities.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.319/EUR 1.138)

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