Vattenfall and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult will collaborate to give innovators the opportunity to test and demonstrate new technology in real-world operating conditions at Vattenfall’s pioneering European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), off Aberdeen. This will in turn help to strengthen the UK supply chain and underpin the British offshore wind industry. EOWDC is an offshore wind test and demonstration facility that recently completed the installation of 11 innovative wind turbines and foundations and which will become fully operational later this summer. It is supported by the EU with a 40 million euro grant.
Vattenfall has agreed to collaborate with the Catapult on innovation deployment at the EOWDC. The Catapult will manage engagement with innovators in the offshore wind supply chain and educational institutions to promote test and demonstration opportunities at the EOWDC, as well as supporting Vattenfall’s selection process and the review and communication of results.
“Vattenfall has already delivered innovation-driven cost reduction in offshore wind with the deployment of game changing technology at the EOWDC, supported by the Scottish Government, Crown Estate Scotland and the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group” said Gunnar Groebler, head of Vattenfall’s Business Area Wind. “Now we want to continue that pioneering spirit, in collaboration with ORE Catapult, by demonstrating the potential of UK innovators’ ideas to reduce costs and improve safety at an operating wind farm. We do that, and we get to freedom from fossil fuel faster.”
Chris Hill, ORE Catapult’s Operational Performance Director, added that the collaboration provides a unique opportunity for UK innovators to work with ORE Catapult to bring new technologies to market through testing in a controlled real-world environment. Mr Hill said that innovation is going to be a key enabler in order to meet the sector’s ambitious targets and that facilitating technology demonstration opportunities is the next logical step for innovators in the de-risking process.
According to Jean Morrison, chair of the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, the EOWDC was always envisoned as a pioneering project that would help to drive down the costs of offshore wind and make it a competitive energy resource.
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