Ørsted JV calls for floating wind innovations

Applicants can now get a direct route to project consideration, the joint venture says, beginning on December 3 and closing on January 14.

Five areas of interest have been listed by the joint venture, which has been named ‘Salamander’:

• Construction and operational health and safety
• Wind turbine foundation integration
• Novel anchor technology
• Low-carbon materials and processes
• Construction vessel optimisation.

The project is being installed 35km off the east coast of Scotland and Salamander is hoping to engage multiple suppliers who will be evaluated technically.

“This will create a platform for suppliers to demonstrate the benefit of their innovation in direct comparison with current solutions being taken through the project’s engineering process,” says Salamander, which describes the project as a ‘stepping stone’ towards rolling out a supply chain in Scotland as floating wind is rolled out.

“This entails onboarding the supply chain in a timely manner, giving local organisations the opportunity to be part of this journey and capitalise on the potential economic benefits through their innovations,” said project director Hugh Yendole.

“From a technical perspective, we have already undertaken our concept and pre-FEED engineering stages, so we’re in a better position now to identify solutions that will address project challenges,” said Innovation manager Tom Brown.

“Not only is  it an exciting time to be involved in the floating wind sector, moreover it is an exciting time to be part of the supply chain. “It’s been a long time coming for these opportunities to be presented to smaller, local organisations.”

Applicants can access a portal to register their interest on the www.salamanderfloatingwind.com website.