The Offshore Wind Innovation HuB has launched its first programme – the Offshore Wind Innovation Exchange – a kind of intellectual property corporate dating-service for venture capitalists and industrialists and ‘know-how’ developers.
The Offshore Wind Innovation Exchange (OWIX) aims to accelerate cost-reduction in offshore wind energy by matching industry challenges with innovative solutions adapted from other sectors of the economy.
It will provide new opportunities for UK business across industries and ensure an affordable, low-carbon energy supply. It is the first in a series of activities planned for the Innovation Hub.
Delivered jointly by the Glasgow-based Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC) and Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Network, the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub will be Britain’s primary co-ordinating body for offshore wind innovation.
An OREC spokesman said: “With the levelised cost of offshore wind power now below the joint UK Government-industry target of £100 per megawatt hour, this new innovation exchange adds to the momentum of driving down costs and facilitating market growth in the UK wind-ustry.
“We will soon launch an online platform, which will include a technology roadmap of UK offshore wind innovation priorities and a comprehensive view of the funding landscape.
“The offshore Hub and Exchange will be critical tools in drawing new disruptive technologies into the sector from the UK’s most innovative companies, and in bringing industry together to align behind the sector’s innovation priorities.”
Dr Nee-Joo Teh, Head of Energy Systems at the Knowledge Transfer Network, said: “With the Offshore Wind Innovation Exchange, we aim to work with offshore wind developers and venture capitalists to make offshore wind energy more sustainable by targeting transferable, innovation solutions from other industries.”
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