Tuesday 18 March 2014

DECC awards £4m to cut offshore wind energy costs

Four businesses have bagged funding worth over £4 million in total to help lower the costs of generating offshore wind energy.

High Voltage Partial Discharge, 2-B Energy, SgurrControl and Ocean Resouce will share the cash for research and development into offshore wind power.

Design concepts range from a two-blade turbine (pictured) to a control system aimed at increasing the lifespan of offshore wind infrastructure – which is expected to reduce costs by up to 35% - to developing and trialling a new type of monitoring technology that will provide early warning of faults in cables.

Energy Minister Greg Barker said: “The UK is already the world leader in offshore wind - with more deployed than any other country. The benefits that offshore wind can bring are clear – from enhancing our energy security, reducing our dependence on imports and helping reduce our carbon emissions.

“Innovation is critical to cutting the cost of this low-carbon power source, which could in turn lead to lower bills for hardworking consumers.”

The funding was awarded as part of DECC’s Offshore Component Technologies Scheme.