The Crown Estate, through its Supply Chain Accelerator programme, has awarded GBP 13 million (nearly EUR 15 million) to 16 UK offshore wind supply chain projects in the early stage of development to help de-risk them and accelerate their path to the market.
The second round of the Supply Chain Accelerator, which is awarding nearly triple the amount granted in the initial round last year, was expanded to include UK ports and port-related infrastructure to support the construction, assembly, manufacturing, operations and maintenance (O&M), and wet storage of fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind.
Among the 16 projects selected in the latest round are those focusing on low-carbon reef scour protection, automated mooring system solutions, wet storage, manufacture of fixed and floating offshore wind foundations and anchoring strategies.
One of the organisations receiving backing from the Crown Estate is ARC marine, whose nature-inclusive scour protection was recently installed at the Rampion offshore wind farm in the UK and is also set to be part of the OranjeWind offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea.
The funding was also granted to a project by Sperra Seaworks and Bardex Energy, which developed the Floating Construction Station (FCS), a concept that could expand nearshore manufacturing and assembly capacity for offshore wind.
The FCS is being evaluated as a deployable solution that could be installed at multiple UK ports to support the manufacturing, assembly, launch, and retrieval of floating wind foundations. The work aligns with the needs of the Celtic Sea programme, where The Crown Estate plans to lease up to 4.5 GW of floating offshore wind capacity, Sperra and Bardex said while announcing the grant on 11 December.
The remaining 14 organisations that were awarded support are Blyth Harbour Commission, European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Eyemouth Harbour Trust, First Corporate Shipping, Ledwood Engineering, Morwind, Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, Offshore Solutions Group, Reflex Marine, SeAH Wind, and Slipform Engineering.
In the second round of the Supply Chain Accelerator, businesses could apply for up to GBP 1.5 million (around EUR 1.7 million) per eligible project, with the Crown Estate providing 50 per cent match funding for early-stage development expenditure, together with an option for the Crown Estate to participate in the capital investment phase.
The Crown Estate says its match funding will contribute to a combined development investment of over GBP 26.5 million (around EUR 30 million) which, if the opportunities successfully conclude their respective development stages, could lead to more than GBP 2.2 billion (around EUR 2.5 billion) of capital investment and approximately 3,000 FTE jobs.