Half of the £10m will be awarded to seven UK companies with the focus on increasing the UK supply chain for offshore wind.
Alongside Siemens, the major winners included subsea power cable manufacturer JDR Cable Systems and Converteam for its large scale DC conversion technology, which was awarded £1m.
In addition, NGentec, which is working to develop and demonstrate an innovative 6MW generator, was awarded £800,000.
‘Offshore wind will be very significant in the energy mix as we move to low carbon, sustainable energy supplies,’ Huhne will say at the lunch.
‘The UK has a wealth of natural resource and coastlines for offshore wind. We are already world leaders in building offshore wind but we must do much, much more.’
Huhne will insist that it is important that the UK will support supply chain companies through the tough economic times and help them develop technologies to fit the emerging market.
Other winners of grants include Cooper Rolling Bearings so it can develop the use of split bearing technology in large-scale applications, South Boats Special Projects for the modular design of offshore wind farm support vessels and MTL Group for the development of mass manufacturing techniques for jacket and monopole sub-assemblies.
In addition, Blade Dynamics received funding to develop the use of modular blade assembly.
‘These investments can help our own businesses reap the benefits of renewable energy and help lower costs to consumers,’ Huhne says.
A spokesperson for JDR said the grant will enable it to provide high voltage export cables, particular for The Crown Estate’s Round 3 projects.
‘This £2m grant will contribute to an overall investment of £11m which will provide the necessary equipment to extend JDR’s manufacture of subsea cables from medium voltage to high voltage,’ the spokesperson said.
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Source: newenergyworldnetwork, July 06, 2010;