Offshore Wind Innovation is a Driver of UK Economic Growth
An independent study of ORE Catapult’s long-term impact by leading analysts Frontier Economics demonstrates the value of research and innovation investment and evidences the significant economic growth arising. But investment must be laser-focused to realise that value in the future, argues ORE Catapult CEO, Steve Foxley.
In financially constrained times, it’s not unusual for people to question the value of research and innovation investment, especially when results and outputs can take years to materialise. But a new report from ORE Catapult, which details an independent impact study of its activities between 2013 and 2023, clearly illustrates the significant contribution to business expansion, productivity and economic growth that investments in innovation deliver.
The research found that a sample cohort of 267 UK businesses supported by ORE Catapult between 2017 and 2023 (approximately 38 per cent of the total) reported a 55 per cent increase in employment, equating to 5,400 jobs, and a 111 per cent increase in turnover. They also saw 36 per cent higher productivity compared to other similar businesses.
This growth in largely SME expansion, hiring and productivity is testament to the value of the Catapults, but also vital to securing long-term, regional economic growth in the renewable energy supply chain. Keeping the UK ahead of the curve to deliver a competitive supply chain is a significant challenge in an increasingly competitive market. 96 per cent of UK SMEs responding to a survey said they were able to progress their technology further or faster due to intensive support from ORE Catapult, and 97 per cent of UK businesses participating in an ORE Catapult and/or OWGP supply chain acceleration programmes said support received had helped them develop their technology or supply the ORE market.
The innovation opportunity is clear. Reaching the UK’s ambitious targets for offshore renewables depends on growth in power, efficiency and reliability of generation and related technologies. ORE Catapult drives innovation using world-leading R&D assets, research collaborations and supply chain acceleration programmes which provide a critical push for technology innovation and adoption in the offshore renewables sector. ORE Catapult’s work to foster connections with innovative companies has resulted in almost £470m worth of investment into collaborative projects.
The report is a great example of just some of the amazing work ORE Catapult has done in the last ten years. But where do we go next? Having been in role for the last 4 months, I’ve spent a lot of time listening to external and internal stakeholders, learning about the sector challenges and where the innovation opportunities lie. This is what I’ve learnt.
Firstly, at this pivotal time for the industry, there’s huge innovation potential to meet the practical challenges of the Clean Power Action Plan, particularly around scaling manufacturing production. Simply, we need to make more. There is an opportunity to push innovation that has been developed in other prevalent UK sectors horizontally into the offshore wind sector. By tapping into innovations from the UK’s aerospace, automotive and defence sectors, we could make step change improvements in manufacturing rates and capacity.
Secondly, we must learn from other sectors how innovation flourishes: offshore wind remains a fairly young sector, and we need to learn the lessons of more established industries of how they have developed innovation at scale leading to successful industrial deployment. A “connected pathways” approach to bridging fundamental research with industrial deployment should form a robust industrial strategy for critical components like blades, drivetrains, anchoring & moorings, and cables.
And finally, we need to reap the benefits of economic activity: without securing the domestic supply chain for offshore wind, we simply cannot ensure energy security. Getting our economic approach right will pay for itself through job creation, regional economic impact, manufacturing investment and R&D activity. Strategically timed mega-projects (e.g. 15GW) could provide the scale and certainty needed for UK supply chains to invest confidently.
With the fight against climate change intensifying, and the political boost of the centrality of offshore wind to the Clean Power Action Plan and creation of Great British Energy, now is the time to grasp the economic advantage that this being offered to the UK. R&D in next-generation turbines, floating wind and tidal energy present us a significant long term economic and export payday in the years to come, while securing domestic manufacturing will create jobs and stimulate growth in coastal communities throughout the UK.
