The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Search for new ideas pays off
A 3D-printed anchor and self-charging mooring line monitoring device are among eight floating wind farm innovations unveiled as winners of a technology acceleration competition.
The hunt for new ideas was funded by the Scottish Government and run by the Carbon Trust’s floating wind joint industry project (Jip), a collaborative research and development initiative between the trust and 14 leading international offshore wind developers.
It was designed to pose technical challenges for the commercialisation of floating wind energy in four key areas: monitoring and inspection; mooring systems; heavy lift maintenance; and towto-port maintenance.
The eight winning technologies will receive a share of £1 million from the government,
“Floating offshore wind will play a huge role”
in addition to support from the Jip offshore wind developers.
The Carbon Trust said the successes represented a variety of sectors, including oil and gas, IT and telecommunications, and engineering.
Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “Given Scotland’s unique deepwater profile, floating offshore wind will undoubtedly play a huge role in our future energy system as we transition to a net-zero economy.
“Key overseas markets are also looking to exploit floating wind technology to meet their own energy needs.
“The innovative solutions developed by the competition winners will help reduce costs in the sector and could allow floating wind technology to reach commercial scale deployment earlier than previously anticipated.”