ORE Catapult and Chinese clean energy company Tus will develop a 500MW offshore wind science demonstration project in Shandong Province as part of an agreement that could deliver £220 million (US$294 million) in benefits immediately to UK universities and firms.
Under the agreement to advance offshore wind technology co-operation, the companies will establish a UK-China Technology Growth Accelerator to boost UK SME technology innovation and deployment in the Chinese offshore wind market.
Creating joint applied research projects, they will develop the Tus Offshore Wind Science Park and 500MW demonstrator, incorporating 10 to 15 per cent UK content.
The UK technology content in the demonstrator project with the Dongying City Government is estimated at £220 million.
The agreement is the first major initiative for the International ORE Research Platform, funded by Innovate UK, which links UK-based technology developers with Chinese authorities – including the Ministry of Science and Technology, major wind farm developers and the Chinese Wind Energy Equipment Association.
ORE Catapult and Tus will hold workshops early in 2018 to identify which technologies could be most applicable for the Chinese offshore wind market.