Date: 5th December 2017
Venue: Britannia Royal Hotel, Hull

ORE Catapult and the University of Hull hosted a pre-launch event for the newly created UK O&M Centre of Excellence (“OMCE”) for offshore wind. Operations and maintenance activities make up almost a quarter of the lifetime costs of an offshore wind farm, providing a huge opportunity for UK companies to supply their products and services. By bringing together offshore wind farm owners, operators, supply chain, industry leaders, regulators and academia, the O&M Centre of Excellence will work with UK industry to drive solution-focused innovation and improvements in O&M.

The pre-launch event brought together over 40 supply chain companies from across the Humber region. Participants were introduced to the role of the OMCE and given examples of the opportunities available in the offshore wind sector. Breakout sessions were held where participants could find out more about;

• Collaborative research, including identifying partners, building good consortia and leveraging public funding sources;
• The role of the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub, including the innovation needs of offshore wind industry and supply chain; and
• Operational Issues in Offshore Wind, including data-driven O&M decision making, planning and risk, and lifetime asset management

The O&M Centre of Excellence is funded by a £2 million collaboration between ORE Catapult and the University of Hull, building on the region’s energy heritage, location and experience of servicing UK offshore wind farms. The five-year partnership will see a series of research and innovation projects developed to improve the way that offshore wind farms are operated and maintained.