The iX programme is supporting Ocean Winds (a 50-50 joint venture of ENGIE and EDP Renewables) to find innovators that can provide a solution to offshore wind industry’s nature inclusive designs challenge for floating offshore wind farms.

Ocean Winds is seeking a solution to improve the nature inclusivity of the design of floating wind farms to help promote biodiverse marine life on and around the wind farms.

Nature Inclusive Designs (NIDs) are an emerging method for promoting biodiversity on structures in the marine environment. The NIDs currently being trialled within the offshore wind sector tend to be associated with bottom-fixed offshore wind farms and used in place of rock protection for cables and scour protection at the base of turbine foundations. This is where the potential for an innovative approach to NIDs is required. Due to a lack of bottom-fixed foundations on a floating offshore wind farm, and the dynamic nature of the mooring chains and cables, the typical areas for inclusion of NIDs are limited. Henceforth, Ocean Winds is seeking a solution to enable NIDs to be utilised on floating wind farms.

Ocean Winds would particularly welcome innovation in the following specific areas:

• Cable Protection for inter-array cables suspended in the water column.
• Improved biodiversity on or surrounding floating WTG anchors.
• Improved biodiversity on floating structures below the waterline.
• EMF reduction on mid water cables.

Whilst not limiting the technologies from solution providers, it is expected that solutions would
consider innovations from some of the following areas:

• Environmental sectors.
• Built environment.
• Marine engineering.
• Electrical engineering.

To meet the desired timescale and risks, it is preferred that the proposed solution, or the key part(s) of the solution, has been commercially proven in other sectors, but this is not essential. Ideally, solutions should be TRL 5 or deployable for field tests within one years of competition closure, but Ocean Winds will also consider earlier stage technology.

For more information please click here. This challenge closes on 8th November 2024.

Innovate UK Innovation Exchange is a cross-sector programme supporting innovation transfer by matching industry challenges to innovative companies from other sectors. It does this by putting large businesses with technical needs in contact with companies who have the right innovative solutions, for faster development of novel solutions.