Peter Green’s Post

The Crown Estate announces nearly £5m funding for initial round of Supply Chain Accelerator in boost for UK offshore wind sector Thirteen organisations across England, Wales and Scotland are set to share nearly £5m in funding through the initial round of The Crown Estate’s innovative Supply Chain Accelerator (“the Accelerator”). This funding will help kick-start projects drawing down from a £50m fund established in May to accelerate and de-risk the early-stage development of UK supply chain projects that service the offshore wind sector. The Crown Estate’s match funding will contribute to a combined development investment of over £9m which, if the opportunities successfully conclude their respective development stages, could lead to more than £400m of capital investment. Projects receiving funding include those enabling floating wind platforms, anchoring and mooring systems, operations and maintenance facilities, test facilities, and those supporting the skills transition. In early 2024, The Crown Estate published the Celtic Sea Blueprint which predicted that 5,300 jobs and a £1.4bn economic boost could be generated through deploying the first floating offshore wind capacity, resulting from the current Leasing Round 5 process, in the waters off South Wales and South-West England. List of organisations to receive funding through The Crown Estate’s Supply Chain Accelerator: ·      Blue Abyss Operations Ltd. ·      Celtic Sea Power Ltd. ·      Gabriel Engineering Ltd. ·      HR Wallingford Ltd. ·      Hutchinson Engineering Ltd. ·      Marine Power Systems Ltd. ·      Neath Port Talbot Group of Colleges (Subject to Contract) ·      Nerth Ltd. ·      Pembrokeshire College (Subject to Contract) ·      Plaswire Ltd. ·      Plymouth & South Devon Freeport (Subject to Contract) ·      Tardra Ltd. ·      Tugdock Ltd. #funding #ISeaSMEs #maritime #maritimeconnection #renewables https://lnkd.in/eB52BjW3

The Crown Estate launches Supply Chain Accelerator to catalyse early-stage investment in UK offshore wind supply chain The UK’s offshore wind industry is set to benefit from increased early-stage investment in its supply chain through the launch of The Crown Estate Estate’s innovative Supply Chain Accelerator (“the Accelerator”). The Accelerator is a new £50m fund created to accelerate and de-risk the early-stage development of projects linked to offshore wind, helping to grow and nurture the UK’s domestic supply chain. An initial £10m round of funding is now open for Expressions of Interest for businesses looking to establish UK projects that could support the development of a new UK supply chain capability for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea. The Accelerator’s first £10m funding round will be geared towards projects specifically looking to address some of these opportunities, helping to kick-start projects by providing matched funding of up to £1m for early-stage development expenditure. The Crown Estate will look for the option to participate in the capital investment phase. The application process opens formally in mid-June and closes at the end of July. Successful projects will be chosen following an application assessment process and announced from October 2024. The Crown Estate will be supported by leading professional services firm Grant Thornton UK LLP #socsea24 #offshorewind #ISeaSMEs #maritimeconnection https://lnkd.in/egh6-Pur

The UK’s offshore wind industry is set to benefit from increased early-stage investment in its supply chain through the launch of The Crown Estate’s innovative Supply Chain Accelerator . The Accelerator is a new £50m fund created to accelerate and de-risk the early-stage development of projects linked to offshore wind, helping to grow and nurture the UK’s domestic supply chain. Read The Full Article:- https://lnkd.in/eUryEdj6 Will Apps, Offshore Wind Strategy Director at The Crown Estate, said: “We’re delighted to launch our Supply Chain Accelerator which will catalyse early-stage project development and maximise the opportunities identified in the Celtic Sea Blueprint. Investing in our domestic supply chain will enable the UK to remain a world leader in offshore wind whilst creating jobs and economic growth in communities local to these transformative projects." Gus Jaspert, Managing Director, Marine at The Crown Estate, said: “Offshore wind not only plays a key part in our energy transition, it can also be a key part of a local and national regeneration with new jobs, skills and industry." More News At Workboat365.com Subscribe To The Workboat365 LinkedIn Weekly News https://lnkd.in/eMY2JUnT #offshorewind #offshorewindenergy #floatingwind #floatingoffshorewind #propulsionsystems #propulsion #shipbuilding #commercialmarine #maritimeindustry #maritime #marine #marineindustry

The Crown Estate launches Supply Chain Accelerator to catalyse early-stage investment in UK offshore wind supply chain The UK’s offshore wind industry is set to benefit from increased early-stage investment in its supply chain through the launch of The Crown Estate Estate’s innovative Supply Chain Accelerator (“the Accelerator”). The Accelerator is a new £50m fund created to accelerate and de-risk the early-stage development of projects linked to offshore wind, helping to grow and nurture the UK’s domestic supply chain. An initial £10m round of funding is now open for Expressions of Interest for businesses looking to establish UK projects that could support the development of a new UK supply chain capability for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea. The Accelerator’s first £10m funding round will be geared towards projects specifically looking to address some of these opportunities, helping to kick-start projects by providing matched funding of up to £1m for early-stage development expenditure. The Crown Estate will look for the option to participate in the capital investment phase. The application process opens formally in mid-June and closes at the end of July. Successful projects will be chosen following an application assessment process and announced from October 2024. The Crown Estate will be supported by leading professional services firm Grant Thornton UK LLP. https://lnkd.in/dKP3hE3b #socsea24 #offshorewind #ISeaSMEs #maritimeconnection #smes

The Crown Estate has launched a £50M Supply Chain Accelerator fund to support UK floating offshore wind supply chain businesses. Up to £1M in matched funding per project is available for early-stage development. This initiative follows the Crown Estate's Celtic Sea Blueprint, which identified a potential £1.4bn economic boost if three new floating wind farms are built in the region. The Celtic Sea, off the coast of south Wales and southwest England, requires significant supply chain and infrastructure development to realize the ambitious 4.5GW project. The accelerator fund aims to de-risk early-stage projects and nurture the domestic supply chain. £10M will be disbursed annually for five years, with the initial round now open for expressions of interest. Successful projects will be announced in October 2024. The Crown Estate emphasizes the importance of investing in the domestic supply chain to maintain the UK's position as a global leader in offshore wind while creating jobs and economic growth. This fund will enable investment in priority capabilities and skills, driving regional economic growth and ensuring value is brought onshore through offshore activities.

WIND OF CHANGE: Construction is underway on the transformation of Ardersier Port in Scotland into an offshore wind hub. The port, in the Moray Firth, east of Inverness, is due to become operational in the second half of next year, according to an article in Ship Management International. It will support the industrial-scale deployment of new offshore wind turbines. The 450-acre (182ha) site is part of the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport, and will have 650 metres (2,132ft) of new quayside. Haventus, an energy transition facilities provider, is the owner of Ardersier Port. It recently secured a £100m business loan from UK and Scottish government-backed banks, following a £300m injection from energy investment firm Quantum Capital Group last year. The port was previously used for the fabrication and construction of offshore platforms for the then newly-established North Sea gas and oil industry, according to BBC News. At its height the yard employed about 4,500 people but it closed in 2001 as demand dropped. #ports #portnews #offshore #renewables #windpower

Big step forward for Scottish port infrastructure for offshore wind this morning as a £100 million loan for the development of Ardesier Port in the Moray Firth is jointly extended to Haventus Limited, backed by Texas-based private equity firm Quantum Capital Group, by The Scottish National Investment Bank and UK Investment Bank. This follows an initial £300m investment by Quantum Capital Group around the time that Haventus was founded in 2023, itself a year after the ScotWind leasing round. Four things strike me here about the involvement, on such a large scale, of a US private equity investor that specialises in energy and the energy transition to kick-start port infrastructure in Scotland: 1. Given the geo-strategic forces at play globally when it comes to energy security, it's significant that it is an American entity that's backing crucial renewable energy infrastructure in the UK. (In the same vein, note that tomorrow, Tuesday, Sumitomo Electric Power Cable & Energy Solution of Japan breaks ground on its £350m subsea cable factory in Nigg, opposite Ardesier in the Cromarty Firth.) 2. Not only is this an American entity but it's the same entity that's also heavily involved in ScotWind. Quantum Capital Group is behind three ScotWind seabed leases through its ownership of BlueFloat Energy, a Madrid-based company that, with partners Renantis and Ørsted, is developing three ScotWind projects: Bellrock, Broadshore and Stromar. Additionally, in 2023, BlueFloat and Renantis have seabed rights to develop two 99 MW projects under the innovation arm of Crown Estate Scotland's INTOG auction process 3. Highlights how infrastructure has become a red hot asset class for such investors (note that Edinburgh Airport was recently bought by VINCI Airports). 4. Expect Ardesier to be a talking point at this week's All-Energy Exhibition and Conference in Glasgow.

Today's decision by the UK Government to reject our bid to create a new green energy terminal in Pembroke Dock is a deeply disappointing blow for the communities around the Milford Haven Waterway. The Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme was aimed at supporting critical port infrastructure that will enable the delivery of 5GW of floating wind by 2030; it was to do this by: - securing the additional capacity necessary to scale up and accelerate floating offshore wind deployment, - increasing capability in the UK floating offshore wind supply chain, and - delivering industrial growth and associated regional economic and social benefits. As the closest port to the Celtic Sea development sites, home to a heavy engineering skills-base, and with strong support from FLOW developers, we felt we had a powerful case. Our development ambition at Criterion Quay sought to provide a delivery platform for the 400MW test and demonstration phase and a fit-for-purpose site for integration, and operations and maintenance activities in support of the commercial-scale phase over the coming decades. As an organisation, we remain committed to the creation of a green cyclical economy. Over the coming weeks we will take stock of how we can fulfil this ambition and level up this part of South Wales. https://lnkd.in/eewHYadf

Crown Estate offering support for Celtic Sea offshore wind industries The UK’s Crown Estate has introduced its Supply Chain Accelerator. This is a £50 million ($63.87 million) fund designed to help speed up and de-risk early-stage development of projects linked to offshore wind. An initial £10 million ($12.77 million) is currently available for expressions of interest for businesses looking to establish UK projects to support developing a supply chain capability for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea offshore in western Britain. Earlier this year, The Crown Estate’s Celtic Sea Blueprint predicted that 5,300 jobs could be generated through deploying the first floating offshore wind capacity from the current Leasing Round 5 process, in waters offshore South Wales and southwest England. This research highlighted the need for developing floating platform components, dynamic cables and connections, wet storage infrastructure and facilities, operations and management infrastructure and facilities, and skills transition facilities. The initial tranche of the funding round will provide matched funding of up to £1 million ($1.28 million) for early-stage development expenditure, with the Crown Estate potentially looking at participating in the capital investment phase. The application process will formally open in mid-June and close at the end of July. Successful projects will be announced in October.

While this is disappointing news in the short-term, a review may help reinforce the Haven’s aspirations to become a large, strategic hydrogen hub. And that includes hydrogen’s many useful derivatives. Everybody knows that the electricity grid is a challenge. And that’s at 4GW, let alone the order of magnitude and more which is out there, untapped, in the Celtic Sea and beyond. We heard at the HyCymru Wales Hydrogen Day in October 2023, and kindly supported by Port of Milford Haven, how Finland eyes hydrogen as a €33bn ADDED-VALUE opportunity to its economy by 2035. Hydrogen is a clear, huge, here and now opportunity for the Haven and the wider Welsh economy. So, a change of tack may help reap the wind’s full benefits. And while we can hopefully look forward to a Cymru win against Finland on the football field tonight, we can learn from the Finns and many others on how to develop a winning economy.