Future offshore wind technologies: industrial research

Overview

This competition supports mid-stage innovation projects in offshore wind, focusing on industrial research that can accelerate technologies towards commercial deployment.

Aligned with the Offshore Wind Industrial Growth Plan, the programme aims to strengthen the UK supply chain by advancing scalable solutions with clear routes to market. Projects should demonstrate how they build on existing feasibility or early-stage work and contribute to long-term sector growth.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to support mid-stage innovation projects within offshore wind aligned with the Offshore Wind Industrial Growth Plan.

It will build a pipeline of high growth UK businesses and technologies, preparing them for scale up, follow on support and future commercial deployment.

Proposals must focus on industrial research projects in one of the following priority areas:

• advanced turbine technology: offshore wind turbine blades and towers
• industrialised foundations and substructures: deepwater solutions
• future electrical systems and cables: reducing cable failure rates

Key themes and topics

Projects must focus on one or more of the following:

Advanced turbine technology:

• technologies improving manufacturing quality, consistency and output of blades and towers
• solutions that increase manufacturing rates or reduce whole life costs
• products and services that improve blade energy yield, reliability or durability

Industrialised foundations and substructures for deepwater solutions greater than 50m:

• technologies that reduce costs and improve reliability
• moorings and anchors, installation methods and major component exchange methods
• scalable fabrication and assembly methods
• novel foundation designs

Future electrical systems and cables:

• solutions improving transmission system reliability
• technologies reducing cable failures during manufacture, installation or operation
• solutions improving joint repairs, cable protection or monitoring systems

Projects will not be funded if they focus on:

• turbine technologies outside blades and towers
• operations and maintenance services or vessels
• onshore transmission systems or substations
• energy storage or grid integration technologies
• projects at early academic stage (typically TRL 4 and below)

Project duration

Projects must last between 12 and 18 months

Must start by 1 October 2026

End by 31 March 2028

Award value

Projects must have total costs of between £150,000 to £1.5 million

Funding rates

For industrial research projects, which build new knowledge and capabilities to develop or improve products, processes or services, organisations can receive funding for eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% for micro or small organisations
• up to 60% for medium sized organisations
• up to 50% for large organisations

Research organisations can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs

Eligibility criteria

• Projects must be collaborative and led by a UK registered business of any size
• Projects must include at least one grant claiming SME
• Collaborators can include UK registered businesses, academic institutions or research and technology organisations (RTOs)
• Subcontractors must be preferably UK-based with fully justified and appropriate costs
• All funded project work must be carried out within the UK (except non-funded international partners)
• Projects must intend to exploit results from or in the UK
• Subsidy control rules apply under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme