Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest a maximum of £10 million across both strands of the competition. This funding is from Innovate UK. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.
The aim of this competition is to support early stage innovation projects within offshore wind, aligned with the Offshore Wind Industrial Growth Plan. It will build a pipeline of high growth UK businesses and technologies, preparing them for scale up, follow on support and future commercial deployment.
Your proposal must focus on feasibility studies in one of the five priority areas:
- advanced turbine technology
- industrialised foundations and substructures
- future electrical systems and cables
- smart environmental services
- next generation installations, operations and maintenance
This competition is split into two strands:
- Future offshore wind technologies: feasibility studies (this strand: early stage projects, total costs of between £50,000 and £250,000, open to SMEs working alone or to business-led consortia which contain at least one SME)
- Future offshore wind technologies: industrial research (mid-stage projects, total costs of between £150,000 and £1.5 million, open to business-led consortia which contain at least one SME)
The two strands also have differences in scope: please check that your technology is in scope before starting your application.
It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your application to the correct strand for your project. You will not be able to transfer your application, and it will not be sent for assessment if it is out of scope. If you are unsure which strand is more appropriate, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Energy team for advice.
Our experience from similar competitions suggests that you could have a 30% chance of success.
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To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application.
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
- business of any size
- academic institution
- research and technology organisation (RTO)
If your project is collaborative, you must ensure that no one partner accounts for more than 70% of the total eligible costs.
To work alone your organisation must be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME).
A business can lead on up to two applications but can be included as a collaborator in any number of applications.
All eligible partners can collaborate on any number of applications.
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Your project must:
- have total costs of between £50,000 and £250,000
- last between 6 and 18 months
- start by 1 October 2026
- end by 31 March 2028
Any funded organisation needs to carry out their project work in the UK and must intend to exploit the project results from or in the UK.
If your project is collaborative, you must ensure that no one partner accounts for more than 70% of the total eligible costs.
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The aim of this competition is to support early stage innovation projects within offshore wind, aligned with the Offshore Wind Industrial Growth Plan.
It will build a pipeline of high growth UK businesses and technologies, preparing them for scale up, follow on support and future commercial deployment.
Your project must focus on one or more of the following:
Advanced turbine technology:
- towers
- blades
- drive train components
- automation of manufacturing process
Industrialised foundations and substructures for deepwater solutions greater than 50m:
- deep water foundations, floating and hybrid design
- moorings and anchors
- improved manufacturing technologies for lower cost and increased durability
- application of novel materials for lightweighting and lower costs
Future electrical systems and cables:
- array and export cables
- dynamic cables at 132kV or greater
Smart environmental services:
- advanced solutions for autonomous environmental data collection and surveying
- environmental data analytic solutions integrating Machine Learning and AI
Next generation installation and operations and maintenance:
- technologies for optimisation of operational uptime and lifespan
- autonomous inspection and condition monitoring solutions
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Innovate UK Business Connect will be holding several online supporting events for this competition, including a briefing event for the feasibility studies strand on Monday 13 April, 10.00-11.00. To register for the briefing and support events, click here.
We will also be holding an FAQs and Consortia Building event on Thursday 23 April, 13:00-15:00, and surgeries on 28 April, 5 May and 19 May. Click here to register for supporting events.
If you would like help to find a collaboration partner, or have any other queries, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Energy team.
Innovate UK's application and funding process
If you need more information about how to apply, please read our funding support pages. For additional support, reach out to our team of innovation experts who are ready to help you navigate the application process and maximise your chances of success.
For more information
Accessibility and Inclusion
Innovate UK welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.