The American energy arm of global giant GE has launched a £4m research project in Northumberland, to explore some of the biggest challenges facing the offshore industry.
The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult in Blyth and the offshore wind business of GE Vernova – the industrial group’s energy division based in Massachusetts, US – has announced the signing of the new multimillion-pound collaboration, paving the way for a multi-year collaboration between the two organisations.
Together, GE Vernova and ORE Catapult will create a programme to help drive down costs for the global offshore wind market with reliable, enhanced, sustainable technologies. The partnership builds on the success of their previous Stay Ashore programme, and will focus on boosting turbine performance through smart tech solutions.
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The Stay Ashore scheme brought GE and ORE Catapult teams together and went on to provide Ƶ businesses with the opportunity to collaborate and develop products and services aimed at extending the life of offshore wind components. The programme delivered solutions for wind turbine digital twins and used data analytics to inform turbine operations and maintenance.
It also supported Ƶ SMEs developing new products and services, including digital analysis tools, robotic crawls as well as drone and sensor technologies, which have subsequently leveraged almost £2m in funding and investments.
Andrew Jamieson, chief executive of the ORE Catapult said the new agreement will focus on some of the biggest challenges facing the industry, and will use applied research to develop key innovations.
He said: “This new collaboration is a hugely exciting development for the sector and will allow us to build on the fantastic work we have already seen come through the previous research programme carried out with our colleagues at GE Vernova.
“By combining knowledge and research capabilities in this way, we can help innovative Ƶ companies to develop some of the cutting-edge technological solutions that can help them support the continued growth of the Ƶ offshore wind sector, while also opening up opportunities to export their skills and services to new global markets.”
Vincent Schellings, chief technology officer of GE Vernova’s offshore wind business, said: “We are pleased to be able to build on our collaboration with ORE Catapult. They are an important partner in helping us to understand how we can use innovation to continue to make offshore wind as efficient, reliable, and sustainable as possible, both in the Ƶ and globally.”
