Offshore Renewable Energy
7 s s: A long-term vision for innovation & growth The centres have been set up to make real changes to the way innovation happens in the UK to make things faster, less risky and more successful. Iain Gray Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board 1.4bn private and public sector investment Created by the Technology Strategy Board, s are technology and innovation centres where the very best of the UK s businesses, scientists and engineers work collaboratively on research and development transforming ideas into new products and services to generate economic growth. Each focuses on an area which the government has already identified as strategically important in global terms and where there is genuine potential for the UK to gain competitive advantage. The centres focus on: High Value Manufacturing Cell Therapy Satellite Applications Offshore Renewable Energy Connected Digital Economy Future Cities By committing to investment in new technologies now, we are laying the foundations for the high-growth businesses of the future. This will allow them to grow, take on more employees and keep the UK at the forefront of global innovation. Transport Systems Offshore Renewable Energy Abundant, affordable energy from offshore wind, wave and tide. Dr. Vince Cable Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 2 3
Offshore Renewable Energy The ORE is bringing together knowledge, expertise and resources to help UK businesses develop innovative, reliable and cost effective technologies that can reduce the cost of energy from offshore renewable sources. Our strategic focus We have five key areas of strategic focus, all of which are designed to drive UK benefit and reduce the cost of energy from offshore renewables. Our mission To build a centre of deep technical expertise that is internationally recognised for accelerating a vibrant offshore renewable energy sector, driven by technology innovation, collaboration and enhanced knowledge, and generating low carbon, affordable power and UK economic benefit. Knowledge creation Strategic programmes SME support Building our capability and understanding, scoping work and influencing the research agenda Convening industry and delivering innovation in the right areas Helping SMEs commercialise technology faster Our income The Offshore Renewable Energy will generate income broadly equally from three sources, the 1:1:1 leveraged funding model. Bespoke services Testing & demonstration Reacting to individual industry requirements Coordinating and enhancing the UK s testing and research and development infrastructure Income from business Joint funding through collaborative R&D projects Core TSB funding By identifying specific technology, knowledge and capability gaps, we are focussed on driving innovation, research and collaboration to address cost drivers in offshore wind, wave and tidal energy deployment. Andrew Jamieson, CEO 4 5
We collaborate... We want the to be a key centre for collaboration in the industry, to be the go-to place for industry and academia to come and be facilitated to have impactful innovation programmes for our sector....with industry Our Industry Advisory Group is made up of senior representation drawn from across the offshore renewables sector. It provides clear, consistent and representative industry advice to the ORE, helping to identify critical areas where innovative approaches and technological development can accelerate industry to deliver at a lower risk and cost....with academia Our Research Advisory Group advises on academic views and interests for innovation in the sector, and acts as our primary vehicle to present industry s demands for innovation, providing a filter process to prioritise the best academic ideas for commercialisation. Research Advisory Group Industry Advisory Group ORE s focus on developing standards, certification and reliability for the offshore renewable industry will directly help to improve performance from our existing plants and drive down the cost of energy from offshore wind. Jim McPhillimy, SSE, Chairman, Industry Advisory Group and building upon the collaborative work of the many multi-university and multi country Harnessing consortia represented in the s Research Advisory Group is a key strategic opportunity....with partnerships and strategic alliances Professor Robin Wallace, University of Edinburgh, Chairman, Research Advisory Group We are building partnerships and strategic alliances across the renewable energy industry, working in close collaboration with public and private sector, academia, representative bodies and the UK s testing and technology proving centres. Collectively, we create a unique resource: reducing the cost of energy and building an industry that will benefit the UK for decades to come. 6 7
A snapshot of some of our projects SPARTA System Performance, Availability and Reliability Trend Analysis This major collaborative project between the Offshore Renewable Energy, The Crown Estate and offshore wind farm owners and operators, will create a database that takes anonymised offshore wind farm performance and maintenance data and provides participants with reliable benchmarking data. The SPARTA database will improve wind turbine operational performance by increasing safety, reliability and availability, thereby cutting the cost of electricity generated from offshore wind. Marine renewables face a stiffer challenge with cost reduction than any previous energy technology we need to rapidly and efficiently commercialise and deploy, in a heavily cost and investment constrained environment. Pelamis believes that the ORE s ability to mobilise, coordinate and focus UK industry, academia and Government is critical to achieving this. Richard Yemm, Chief Executive, Pelamis Wave Power A joint project between: Marine Farm Accelerator (MFA) Technology for first wave and tidal arrays The Marine Farm Accelerator (MFA) is working with a consortium of project developers and the Carbon Trust to drive accelerated innovation of the technology required to de-risk delivery of early wave and tidal farms. It will build on the success achieved to date by the Carbon Trust s Offshore Wind Accelerator. 5 focus areas: Electrical systems Yield optimisation Installation methods Operations & maintenance Insurance Floating LiDAR Building on previous projects within the ORE, the SPARTA project will, for the first time, produce benchmarking data that adds real value to the industry and will contribute to reducing costs. Chris Hill, Innovation Programmes Director, ORE We are undertaking a wide scoping exercise, in association with Narec and BVG Associates, to consider the potential impact of LiDAR remote sensing technology on the offshore wind industry, and its future development with regards to specific offshore renewables industry requirements. These studies will identify the potential impact of LiDAR on the cost of offshore wind energy, the data management requirements and the barriers to the use of floating LiDAR technology specifically. 8 9
SME support Looking ahead A long term proposition for the UK s SME innovation community SMEs will be the driving force behind much of the innovation in offshore renewable energy over the coming years. ORE is stimulating innovation from the UK s SMEs through identification and communication of the strategic technology priorities. We directly support SMEs with the innovation process through: - A case study on Nova Innovation Ltd Proposal validation (market, technology) Development & commercialisation planning Access to expertise, facilities, partners, customers Lever in funding and investment from public & private sectors We are supporting Nova Innovation Ltd with the Tidal Array Model Real-World Evaluation Project (TAM), gaining a better understanding of our tidal resource in order to maximise energy generation from tidal devices. The TAM project will enable the performance of existing hydrodynamic models to be compared against each other anonymously, with the outputs being validated using the UK s first operational tidal array which will be developed, installed and operated by Nova in Bluemull Sound in Shetland. The ORE will help to maximise the innovation potential of SMEs by taking knowledge of the key sector challenges to the SME community and thereby stimulating increased levels of innovation. Dr. Stephen Wyatt, Strategy & Commercialisation Director 10 In the future, ORE will focus on areas where it can have the greatest impact on cost reduction. Below is a flavour of the priority areas and our contribution to each. Priority areas for the future Turbines We will facilitate and promote accelerated lifetime testing programmes in laboratory facilities to ensure that the technology being developed in the UK supply chain is robust before companies approach their customers. Cables We are already working in this area to support the standardisation of cable design. This will facilitate R&D in polymeric cables rated above 400kV that can be used for both offshore wind and interconnector HVDC projects. Foundations We will play a key role in unlocking the opportunity through supporting design, testing and demonstration of new foundations concepts, and by supporting standardisation and development of new manufacturing techniques. Substations Power transmission is a significant area of cost reduction which is often overlooked. Our role will be to facilitate the standardisation of electrical systems and substation design and promote innovation in HVDC networks. Operations and maintenance (O&M) We are supporting the effort to increase the range of working conditions offshore, improve the efficiency of crew access for maintenance and standardise strategies for component replacement and turbine access. We will facilitate the move to condition-based (rather than time-based) maintenance of turbines through the introduction of new sensor technologies, many of which will be developed by UK SMEs. Installation We play a role by maximising the technological competitiveness of UK engineering companies through development of new or standardised strategies for component handling and installation. This may range from sea-fastenings to the most advanced installation techniques which improve installation times, reduce weather downtime and minimise external impacts. Europe ORE is working with European partners with valuable knowledge and common aims to ensure that its ambitious agenda can influence European policy. We are working with a range of European bodies, including the European Commission and the groupings relating to the Strategic Energy Technologies (SET) Plan, developing our capacity and capability to access and manage EU funding, which will become an important stream of income for ORE. We will work with bodies in the UK that have a shared agenda for influencing and informing the EU agenda. 11
inovo The Inovo Building, 121 George Street, Glasgow G1 1RD We are based in the Inovo building, Scottish Enterprise s new industry engagement building within Glasgow s International Technology and Renewable Energy Zone (ITREZ), and adjacent to the University of Strathclyde. This location places the in direct daily contact with the cutting edge activities of research and development within the offshore renewable energy sector. Printed on environmentally friendly paper ore.catapult.org.uk @orecatapult email: info@ore.catapult.org.uk tel: 0330 222 0335