UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has awarded EMEC funding to advance the development of DeepWind, a national floating and deepwater wind test site. DeepWind is intended to provide plug-and-play infrastructure in a representative environment where technologies can be tested and validated before commercial deployment.
The £3 million award, made through the UK Government’s UKRI Infrastructure Fund, will support the development of DeepWind as a test environment for floating and deepwater wind technologies. The two-year funding will support engineering, environmental, regulatory and commercial work needed to reach a Final Investment Decision and prepare DeepWind for delivery by 2030. It will also establish the technical, financial and governance foundations for the investment decision and the next phase of development.
The funding builds on work undertaken through The Crown Estate’s Supply Chain Accelerator programme, which has supported feasibility studies, environmental assessments and industry engagement for DeepWind. This work has established technical requirements for the test site, while potential locations have been identified with metocean conditions and water depths representative of future offshore wind developments.
