07/15/2010
UK - £10m grant awarded for offshore wind technology
The UK government has announced grants of £10 million to a series of wind energy projects, the first to be delivered by the new coalition government for companies in the offshore wind industry.
In the first round of grant funding since the Budget, seven supply chain companies will share £5 million, according to UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne.
The two single largest grants, for £2 million and £1 million will go to JDR Systems of Hartlepool (technology - high voltage export and array cables for distribution of power from multi-MW turbines) and Converteam of Rugby (large-scale DC conversion technology), respectively.
The remaining five companies are:
* NGentec, Edinburgh - develop and demonstrate new innovative 6MW generator, £800,000;
* Blade Dynamics, Isle of Wight - develop and demonstrate use of modular blade assembly, £400,000;
* South Boats Special Projects, Isle of Wight Modular - design of offshore wind farm support vessels £300,000;
* Cooper Rolling Bearings, Kings Lynn Norfolk - develop and demonstrate the use of split bearing technology in large-scale wind applications, £256,250;
* MTL Group, Sheffield - develop mass manufacturing techniques for jacket and monopile sub-assemblies £250,000.
A £5 million grant for Siemens Windpower, applied for under a previous round of funding, was also confirmed. Siemens will use the money to develop a next-generation 6MW offshore turbine with an integrated foundation design in the UK.
Earlier this year, the Department of Energy and Climate Change launched a competition for capital grants of between £250,000 and £2m, which would provide part-funding (typically at 25%) to commercial business for the development and demonstration of next generation technologies that can cut the cost of offshore wind deployment between now and 2020.
This was built on two successful previous rounds of this scheme (which were aimed at larger companies, with a larger maximum grant size), which led to some significant supply chain developments, such as Clipper Windpower’s decision to start construction of a 10MW blade factory, and Burntisland Fabricators Ltd’s decision to develop a mass-production manufacturing facility to produce jacket foundations for offshore wind turbines.
For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net
In the first round of grant funding since the Budget, seven supply chain companies will share £5 million, according to UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne.
The two single largest grants, for £2 million and £1 million will go to JDR Systems of Hartlepool (technology - high voltage export and array cables for distribution of power from multi-MW turbines) and Converteam of Rugby (large-scale DC conversion technology), respectively.
The remaining five companies are:
* NGentec, Edinburgh - develop and demonstrate new innovative 6MW generator, £800,000;
* Blade Dynamics, Isle of Wight - develop and demonstrate use of modular blade assembly, £400,000;
* South Boats Special Projects, Isle of Wight Modular - design of offshore wind farm support vessels £300,000;
* Cooper Rolling Bearings, Kings Lynn Norfolk - develop and demonstrate the use of split bearing technology in large-scale wind applications, £256,250;
* MTL Group, Sheffield - develop mass manufacturing techniques for jacket and monopile sub-assemblies £250,000.
A £5 million grant for Siemens Windpower, applied for under a previous round of funding, was also confirmed. Siemens will use the money to develop a next-generation 6MW offshore turbine with an integrated foundation design in the UK.
Earlier this year, the Department of Energy and Climate Change launched a competition for capital grants of between £250,000 and £2m, which would provide part-funding (typically at 25%) to commercial business for the development and demonstration of next generation technologies that can cut the cost of offshore wind deployment between now and 2020.
This was built on two successful previous rounds of this scheme (which were aimed at larger companies, with a larger maximum grant size), which led to some significant supply chain developments, such as Clipper Windpower’s decision to start construction of a 10MW blade factory, and Burntisland Fabricators Ltd’s decision to develop a mass-production manufacturing facility to produce jacket foundations for offshore wind turbines.
For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net
- Source:
- Online Editorial, www.windfair.net
- Author:
- Posted by Trevor Sievert, Online Editorial Journalist
- Email:
- ts@windfair.net
- Link:
- www.windfair.net/...
- Keywords:
- Wind energy, wind power, wind turbine, wind mill, offshore, onshore, wind farm
