Two leading energy technology and innovation organizations announced on July 22, 2020, a five-year collaboration to deliver next generation energy technologies and accelerate the United Kingdom’s transition to a net zero future.
The Energy Transition Alliance (ETA), formed by The Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, will collaborate with the energy industry to drive a focused, funded program to develop advanced technologies, including the next generation of hydrogen production and floating offshore wind.
This is a ground-breaking collaboration which aims to transform the energy sector, accelerating the UK’s transition to a net-zero future, ensuring a reliable and secure source of power for the UK and an indigenous and competitive 21st Century energy technology sector. Of vital importance to the future of the energy sector will be transition of supply chain, skills and workforce from the oil and gas sector to renewables.
The partners in the ETA are launching an ambitious program of five initial projects, which include:
- UK supply chain specific floating wind foundation competition: stimulating innovation in floating wind, to reduce the cost of floating foundations by 25-30%
- AC/DC Footprint miniaturization: developing a prototype AC/DC conversion technology that reduces CO2, has a footprint 10x smaller and 5x cheaper than existing technologies and is anticipated to generate £7.7bn savings to industry
- Power from shore: a call to industry for technologies which reduce the cost of power from shore, including cross-operator projects, and can help industry eliminate offshore platform CO2e emissions which currently represent 2% of the UK’s total CO2e emissions
- UK offshore renewables supply chain deep dive study: maximizing the full potential of the UK supply chain in the production, installation and decommissioning of offshore renewables, creating 27,000 jobs in offshore wind by 2030
- Sustainable wind turbine decommissioning: developing a commercially viable solution for the cost-effective recycling and re-processing of wind turbine blades, which is expected to bring $1bn value to market
The ETA is funded in its first year by the OGTC and ORE Catapult, and will look to government and industry, among other sources, to secure funding for future years.
