ORE Catapult Invites UK Unis to Join Powertrain Research Hub

The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult is seeking to collaborate with UK-based universities to accelerate offshore turbine powertrain research and development activities, combining academic and industry skills and resources to better respond to industry’s needs.

The new Powertrain Research Hub (PTRH) will attract a five-year investment of around GBP 700,000 from ORE Catapult and will be leveraged with match-funding as a minimum from the university applicant(s). The PTRH will focus on addressing the following key research topics and themes:

• Reliability improvement and advanced test methodologies.
• Advanced health condition monitoring and prognostic technologies.
• Development of next-generation powertrain components for larger sized wind turbines.

The aim of the PTRH will be to provide future technologies for larger turbines and to research solutions for improving turbine reliability and availability, with a particular focus on minimising human interventions throughout the life of the wind turbine.

“With industry moving towards larger wind turbines, we have an opportunity to significantly contribute to reducing the cost of turbine technology. By developing the next generation of powertrain components, and improving their lifespan, we can significantly reduce the related operations and maintenance costs and subsequently minimise the number of human interventions for potentially dangerous turbine repair work at sea,” Paul McKeever, ORE Catapult’s Head of Strategic Research, said.

Webinar sessions will take place from week commencing Monday 24 September to walk through the PTRH application process and address any early queries from interested applicants and participants.

The deadline for application submissions will be 12 noon local time on Thursday, 25 October 2018.

This will be the third strategic Research Hub established by ORE Catapult following the collaborations with the University of Bristol in blades and the Universities of Strathclyde and Manchester in electrical infrastructure.

“We know from our current Research Hubs that by pooling academic and industry expertise, the UK is better positioned to respond to industrial challenges and drive forward key research and development. This, in turn, enables the UK’s offshore renewables sector to lead in addressing a number of these challenges,” McKeever said.