The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) is launching a new £2 million package of funding and business support activities for the UK offshore wind supply chain.

The plan involves two additional funding calls totaling £600.000, as well as ambitious initiatives to promote market growth through the £1.5 million Sharing in Growth Program.

The OWGP is a vital part of the Industry-Government Offshore Wind Sector Deal and is funded by the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC), with a budget of £100 million over ten years.

The program supports the growth of UK companies seeking to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities the global offshore wind sector provides.

Such new projects have been enabled by a new tranche of funding from OWIC leaders, which will form part of UK green economic recovery following the global health pandemic of Covid-19.

The two new funding calls include:

• A cross-sector call that aims to bring technology and companies from other sectors into offshore wind.
  
• An open call, which offers UK companies already working in the offshore wind sector a wider opportunity to increase market share by rising competition and creating new products or services.

Furthermore, expressions of interest will open in August to engage in the Sharing in Growth program. The Sharing in Growth program has been very popular in the aerospace industry, and up to £1.5 million will be used over the next 12 months to offer a similar, high-value system to up to ten supply chain companies.

This new round of funding builds on the success of the January 2020 pilot funding calls, which saw seven supply chain companies share £400.000 in projects to drive cost reduction from advanced manufacturing techniques and develop advanced sensors and offshore wind communications solutions.

“The offshore wind sector has shown remarkable resilience to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The UK has a fantastic opportunity to use this as a springboard to a green economic recovery.  Many engineering sectors have been badly hit by the pandemic and support from OWGP can ensure that the best of UK engineering from all industries can develop UK IP in a sector that is set for strong global growth.”

Martin Whitmarsh, chair of the OWGP.

“The OWGP is a key part of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, supporting the industry’s ambitions to increase UK content and competitiveness in the offshore wind supply chain. It’s fantastic to see the next round of funding from the OWGP being made available to support these growth ambitions. The Sharing in Growth program and the new calls each offer excellent opportunities for suppliers to access support that can help them capitalize on the growth of the UK and global offshore wind markets. OWIC has huge expectations from the OWGP and looks forward to seeing the projects that come through these programs and how they may be applied to UK offshore wind farms.”

Halfdan Brustad, OWIC sponsor for the OWGP and vice president for the Dogger Bank Development at Equinor.