Crown Estate Grants GBP 13 Million to New Offshore Wind Supply Chain Projects

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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.