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.

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Ambitious plans to expand offshore wind around the United Kingdom to power homes and businesses with cheap, homegrown energy received a further boost recently with a multimillion-pound manufacturing fund opening for expressions of interest.

The Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS) will provide £160 million in UK government funding to boost floating offshore wind capability around the UK at sites in Scotland, Wales and elsewhere by supporting manufacturers and giving private investors the confidence to back this emerging sector which is expected to rapidly expand in the years ahead.

The emerging UK floating offshore wind sector already has two operational projects generating power off the coast of Scotland at Hywind Scotland and Kincardine.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) £160 m of funding is expected to unlock further deepwater port infrastructure and support private investment in new factories to mass-produce major components for floating offshore wind, with ambitions for projects off the coast of Wales.

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Zero emission ferries and vessels are one step closer to being a reality, as Maritime Minister Robert Courts confirmed £12 m funding to accelerate the research and development of zero emission maritime technologies.

The latest funding cements the UK’s position as world leaders in clean maritime technologies and supports the creation of thousands of skilled jobs across the UK.

The CMDC is one of the first initiatives from UK SHORE, a new unit launched to make the maritime sector greener. Dedicated to creating a world free from shipping emissions, UK SHORE will work with industry to tackle numerous shipping emission challenges.

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Applications for the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund open April 25th.

£240m of funding will be released over 4 strands. Strands 1 & 2 are detailed below.

This fund will be relevant to several partners of the National Maritime network and of course partners of the UK Marine Hydrogen WG.

As a network partnership offer, our SME Maritime WG Grant Funding Champions Nick PrattleySwell will be working with a number of companies regarding consortium building and application support .

If you would like guidance on the application process contact Nick.

Nova Innovation and SABELLA have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two tidal energy technology companies.