Scottish Government To Support Offshore Wind Development To The Tune Of £1.5 Million

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The Scottish Government has committed £1.5 million in funding to increase innovation, reduce costs, and encourage further investment in the country’s offshore wind industry.

offshore wind scotlandAnnounced this week, the Scottish Government awarded the £1.5 million ($2.2 million) in funding to the Carbon Trust to support its Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) research and design program. The OWA, created in 2008, brought together nine offshore wind developers in an effort to reduce the cost of offshore wind by at least 10% in time for the UK’s Round 3 offshore wind development zones — which were finalized earlier this year. Previous funding and development has focused on floating wind technology, and the use of concrete foundations for offshore wind farms in deeper waters.

The new funding will go towards developing projects across three areas:

  • Continuing to explore the opportunity that floating offshore wind offers to Scotland
  • Encouraging international collaboration on offshore wind developers’ most pressing problems, specifically addressing how developers working in Scottish waters can make offshore wind more efficient
  • Sharing knowledge on innovation and cost reduction between partners

“Previous Scottish Government support for the OWA has helped develop new ideas in key areas of importance to companies operating in Scottish waters and I have no doubt this new funding will help firms to continue this important work,” said Scottish Energy Minister, Paul Wheelhouse. “Only last week, around 350 jobs were announced as a direct result of the construction of the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm, highlighting the massive opportunity offshore wind presents to Scotland and the Scottish economy.”

The green light was given in late May for the construction of the 588 MW, £2.6 billion Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm.

“Innovation in renewables also continues to contribute to the excellent progress we are making on reducing greenhouse gas emissions after the recent announcement that Scotland has exceeded our 2020 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42% six years early,” Wheelhouse added.


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Joshua S Hill

I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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