The investment will be shared among four offshore wind projects: Ricardo UK (£634,980), TetraFloat (£134,000), Blade Dynamics (£842,630) and SSE Renewables (£1m).
Ricardo will use the grant to develop and demonstrate its offshore wind drivetrain innovation technologies to improve the reliability and lifetime of drivetrains for large offshore wind systems, while the TetraFloat will use the investment to validate and improve a novel floating platform design.
Blade Dynamics was awarded the grant to design, develop and test a new composite wind turbine hub that is expected to reduce the loads on the entire turbine, tower and foundation.
SSE Renewables has secured the grant for its national offshore wind turbine test facility project, which will, among other things, test foundations, logistics, and grid integration on Siemens 6MW pre-production turbine.
The scheme is part of the Low Carbon Innovation Coordination Group’s £100m financial support package to develop innovative offshore wind technologies between 2011 and 2015.
DECC secretary Edward Davey said the latest investment will improve the affordability of the technologies in the future, reduce bills for households and businesses; and strengthen energy security by offering a range of technology options for the UK to deploy.
"Successful innovation could save the UK up to £160 billion in energy supply costs to 2050 and contribute up to £89 billion to the UK economy over the same period," added Davey.
