On Thursday, 27th March, at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, Narec and partners are hosting a Wind Innovation Conference.
The event will be an excellent opportunity to find out about these collaborative and innovative projects as well as other forthcoming calls and current funding opportunities. The event will also highlight the impact these projects are having at a regional and industry level, as well as how they are helping to stimulate economic growth, reduce developments costs and accelerate UK technology commercialisation. The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, MAS Grow Offshore Wind and The Carbon Trust, Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) will also be presenting at the conference.
Whilst the renewable energy industry as a whole has experienced highs and lows over the past 12 months, the offshore wind sector has enjoyed a record breaking year in terms of new deployment, with offshore wind capacity growing by a record 79% in 12 months.
In order to build on this momentum, technology innovation is essential to deliver lower cost more reliable offshore wind energy.
The National Renewable Energy Centre, Narec, based in Blyth, Northumberland has been recognised for its success and ability to build and deliver partnerships and collaborations across the UK and Europe related to research and development projects. In recent years, it has been delivering projects to encourage and drive forward innovation in the supply chain, one example of this activity is the second round of the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, Wind Innovation Programme.
The £11 million Offshore Wind Innovation Programme which brought together offshore market leaders with world-class technology providers and academia in the UK to deliver six major technology projects which address key technical challenges associated with the offshore wind supply chain is nearing completion.
Partners – Romax Technology Ltd, University of Sheffield, TWI, HVPD, David Brown Gear Systems Ltd and Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd – have been working on a variety of projects related to offshore wind turbine foundation design and fabrication concepts, condition monitoring of wind turbine towers and blades and the development and automated application of protective coatings for the design life of wind turbine structures, as well as drive train concepts for improved reliability and a bearing test rig.
Press release, March 17, 2014; Image: Narec