Scot-Govt. invests £1.5m to maximise offshore wind farm production and reduce costs – Scottish Energy News

The Scot-Govt. has invested another £1.5 million into the Carbon Trust’s
world-leading research, development, and demonstration programme – the
Offshore Wind Accelerator.

The OWA programme brings together nine of the largest offshore wind power
generators in Europe; DONG Energy, EnBW, E.ON, Iberdrola, Innogy, SSE,
Statkraft, Statoil and Vattenfall.

The investment will allow the continuation of funding for projects to
explore potential opportunities that offshore wind can offer to Scotland,
ultimately leading to a reduction in costs.

The £1.5 million will be used to fund a range of projects to explore the
potential benefits of offshore wind for Scotland. Funding will also go to
projects designed to facilitate and encourage international collaboration
and knowledge sharing between offshore wind developers, in order to tackle
some industry-wide problems, and stimulate innovation in the sector.

One strand of the Offshore Wind Accelerator programme is a project which
has recently started to improve fatigue life of welded jacket connections.

The aim of this project is to improve the evidence-base on the real-world
performance of welds to prove that they are more durable than currently
estimated, which would result in a decrease of the weight of new jacket
structures, consequently lowering costs.

Among other fabricators and stakeholders, the OWA is working with
Fife-based Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab).

Paul Wheelhouse, MSP, the Scottish Energy Minister, said: “The Carbon Trust
has done a fantastic job so far in reducing the costs of offshore wind, as
well as encouraging collaboration across the public and private sectors to
improve the industry as a whole.

“The potential benefits of offshore wind energy in Scotland are enormous,
which is why the Scottish Government is committed to its development. By
continuing to invest in it, not only are we stimulating economic change for
the better, but we’re also helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Jan Matthiesen, Director, the Carbon Trust, added: “This investment signals
continuing support for a programme that has helped to reduce the costs of
offshore wind and helped to pave the way towards a subsidy-free energy
source.”

Scot-Govt. also invested £1.5 million in the Offshore Wind Accelerator in
June 2016
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