Accelerating next-gen technology for offshore wind innovation
LSIC investment confirmed. UK platform for offshore wind innovation and scale-up announced.
NCC has been confirmed as a central delivery partner in a new package of offshore wind innovation initiatives backed by Innovate UK.
Large Structures Innovation Centre
Phase one of NCC’s Large Structures Innovation Centre (LSIC) will receive £10 million from Innovate UK, alongside a further £2 million from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Based on the Isle of Wight, the open-access facility will enable industry to design, develop and de-risk manufacturing methods for large structures at full industrial scale. Wind energy is the starting point.
LSIC addresses a specific gap in the UK's clean energy infrastructure: the ability to prove and scale next-generation manufacturing at the size and complexity the sector requires. Without that capability onshore, innovations developed in the UK risk being manufactured and deployed elsewhere.
Vestas has been named as LSIC's first industry launch partner, building on its existing collaboration with NCC on sustainable blade innovation.
Wind Innovation Hub
NCC will co-deliver the new £5 million Wind Innovation Hub (the Hub) on behalf of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult with National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), and alongside the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.
Funded by Innovate UK, the Hub will bring together industry, government and innovators to align offshore wind research, development and commercialisation activity across the UK.
As part of the Hub, a new Innovation Accelerator fund will provide up to £2 million of targeted technical support to high-growth companies operating in the offshore wind sector.
NCC's role within the Hub draws on its engineering expertise, connecting early-stage innovation to industrial-scale capability.
Offshore Wind Innovation Programme
The Wind Innovation Hub complements the recently launched Offshore Wind Innovation Programme, supporting high-potential businesses to develop new technologies, scale their businesses and compete internationally.
Innovate UK has committed an initial £10 million through the programme’s first competition, with successful projects due to be announced later this year. NCC's energy experts provided eligible businesses with support for the competitive grant development process.
The programme focuses on key technology areas identified within the Industrial Growth Plan for Offshore Wind as representing the biggest opportunity for the UK, including advanced turbine technology, next-generation foundations and substructures, future electrical systems and cables, smart environmental services, and innovation in installation, operations and maintenance.
Read the full release from Innovate UK.