Eight UK organisations have signed new agreements to develop and provide renewable energy technologies, services and research in China.

The eight innovators have all been supported by TORC, the joint venture research and incubation centre established in March 2019 by the UK’s Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and China’s Tus Wind.

Anakata Wind Power, the Oxford-based aerodynamics specialists, has created Tus-Aero, a 50:50 joint venture company with Tus-Wind, to develop and supply its performance improving aerodynamic blade add-ons. Anakata has been working with TORC for the past year and has installed its technology on a number of Chinese onshore wind farms, proving a potential 6% annual energy increase on the world’s most installed turbine, with over 22,000 in operation in China.

Six further UK companies have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with TORC to develop collaborative projects for the Chinese market:

Aleron Group, Aberdeen-based specialists in remotely operated vehicles for the oil and gas industry design and manufacture advanced subsea robotic systems and will bring their MultiRov product to the Chinese market.

Blueprint Subsea, based in Cumbria, design and manufacture products for the offshore, subsea and commercial diving markets, aiming to bring the latest advances in technology to the customers at an affordable cost without comprising on quality or function.

Logan Energy, Edinburgh-based experts in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, designing, installing, commissioning, and maintaining integrated energy systems across the UK and Europe. 

Miros Scotland, Aberdeen-based technology company with more than 35 years of experience providing sensors and systems for environmental monitoring to the global offshore and maritime industry. Miros delivers accurate, real-time, local wave and weather data on- or offshore and on any device.

REOptimize Systems, an Edinburgh-based start-up born from the Institute of Energy Systems (IES), delivering a system-wide approach to the optimization of control settings of wind turbines, using machine learning & holistic system simulation. They will collaborate with TORC on bringing a wind turbine performance assessment and optimization service to market in China.

ZOEX Wave Power, a wave energy technology developer based in Aberdeen, has designed a modular device to be attached to existing structures such as breakwaters, offshore wind platforms and aquaculture farms. They will collaborate with TORC to identify manufacture and demonstration partners in Asia.

In addition, a new academic research partnership has been formed, with the MOU between TORC and Harbin Engineering University (HEU) /Exeter University. Prof. Lars Johanning is in charge of the HEU Yantai research activities and a leading academic in marine renewables in the UK. His team will collaborate on developing an international academic / industry partnership to develop marine renewables.

“We are delighted that these companies have partnered with our research and innovation centre in Yantai to take their world-leading technology to the Chinese offshore wind market, which is forecast to be the biggest in the world by 2030. Through TORC, our unique partnership between ORE Catapult and Tus Wind, we can provide the necessary support to ensure these companies succeed in China.”

Dr. Stephen Wyatt, ORE Catapult director of Research and Disruptive Innovation.

“The ocean energy industry in China is growing at 20% per year and will be the largest such market in the world over the next 20 years. Supporting, nurturing and developing the world’s leading marine science expertise and technology from both the UK and China will play an instrumental role in driving the world’s economic recovery from the Coronavirus.”

Charlie Du, senior vice president, Tus Holdings and chairman of TORC.