Miliband launches competition to cut the cost of offshore wind

Up to £20 million has been earmarked for the project, which will be managed by The Carbon Trust and is aimed at finding the best new foundation designs to support deeper sea offshore wind farms. Its aim is to deliver a 30 per cent cost reduction across the full lifecycle of existing foundations for deeper water wind turbines.

Offshore wind in the UK received a potential £525 million boost from the Budget this week, through reform of the Renewables Obligations Certificates system, but the cost of building offshore wind farms has more than doubled over the last five years. The competition announce today forms part of £30 million initiative by the industry and led by the Carbon Trust to tackle the rising costs of offshore projects.

By 2020 up to 15,000 new foundations are estimated to be required with a global market worth up to £2.5 billion, according to the Carbon Trust. but, particularly in deep water, they can account for up to 20 per cent of project costs. The competition is looking for foundation designs suitable for 30 to 60 metres below sea level that would be used in large scale, at sea, demonstration projects in 2010-2012 and would help the industry make deeper water sites more commercially viable.

"The Carbon Trust announcement today offers even more support to the offshore wind industry on top of the measures we have seen in the Budget,” said Miliband. “ It's time for the industry to seize the opportunity and take the money that's there for advanced green manufacturing.”

Engineers, designers, academics, and research institutes from across the globe are being invited to come up with designs for more commercially viable deeper water foundations.

“This global competition is an opportunity for the very best designers to contribute to the future of this essential new industry,” said Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust. “It's time for Britain to be bold and offshore wind is a great example of a technology that with will deliver significant carbon reductions and huge economic value to the UK."

The Government has put offshore wind – along with nuclear and coal-powered fire stations fitted with carbon capture and storage technology – at the centre of its delivery of a low carbon energy future for the UK. Analysis by Carbon Trust has shown that the offshore wind technology could be providing a quarter of UK electricity needs by 2020, helping to create up to 70,000 new jobs, reducing carbon emissions by 14 per cent and generating revenues of up to £8 billion every year for the UK alone.

Commenting on the announcement today, Adam Bruce, chairman of the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), said: "The Carbon Trust's initiative comes at a crucial point in the development of the UK's offshore wind sector. In order for Round 3 to deliver up to 25GW of capacity, we need to address the technological challenges of offshore deployment now. This competition will help retain the UK's advantage as the key destination for large scale offshore wind investment."

The competition formally opens on May 11 and closes on the June 15.

Shortlisted entries will receive up to £100,000 for more detailed assessment, while the final winners will receive further funding to have their designs built and installed.