A campaign has been launched to find companies and organisations with something new to offer to the emerging offshore renewable energy industry. 

Offshore renewable energy systems - using wind, wave and tidal energy - are set to make an enormous contribution to the UK's progress in cutting carbon emissions. There is a correspondingly enormous potential for improving the performance and reducing the cost of these young technologies through innovation. OrbisEnergy, a new £9m offshore renewables innovation hub in the East of England, would like to meet and support innovators and entrepreneurs developing such innovation on their route to market. 

The world needs to source an increasing proportion of its energy needs from renewables, and the value of this market in the coming years is estimated at £8bn off the East coast of England alone. Steve Clarke, Offshore Development Director for Renewables East and OrbisEnergy, is keen to ensure that the UK takes advantage of this opportunity. "Like any young industry, the race is on to improve systems and components and reduce costs. Innovation is a key to this, and we want OrbisEnergy to host and support the best solutions from around the world." 

Mr Clarke has an attractive offer. The new £9m OrbisEnergy Innovation Centre will open in June 2008 at the heart of the East coast offshore renewables activity, in Lowestoft. It will offer business support for product development and commercialisation, find finance, partners and customers, and provide space in the state of the art building overlooking the North Sea.  

Over time, it is envisaged that OrbisEnergy will develop into a wider energy park including grow-on space for incubated companies as well as other complementary industry facilities. 

OrbisEnergy is looking for innovation in components, sub-systems and whole new ways of converting wind, wave and tidal energy, and even solar energy hitting the ocean, for example using biotechnology. It could come from within the offshore renewables industry, oil and gas companies, or from other relevant industries. "There's no reason in principle why new bearings for vehicles couldn't also be engineered for turbines" said Steve Clarke. We want to talk to people who can take the industry through the challenges it currently faces." 

Among the challenges, Mr Clarke listed the lack of availability of turbines and of construction vessels along with lower density composites, lower cost composite and component manufacturing, gearbox alternatives, alternative designs for offshore wind turbines, concentrators, alternative materials and concepts for bearings, small scale, modular systems, generators, energy storage, coatings, joints, array design and connection, grid connection and innovative use of infrastructure and foundation designs. However, he didn't rule out solutions for any area of the industry. 

Interested companies, universities, organisations and individuals should contact Steve Clarke (steveclarke@renewableseast.org.uk, 07939 053025), or Phil Sheppard at partner organisation the Centre for Sustainable Engineering (p.sheppard@cseng.org.uk, 07917 858022). A partnering service is available at http://www.orbisenergy.net/innovation.asp.