Offshore Wind Innovation Competition funding available
Innovate UK is investing up to £10m in the first phase of the Offshore Wind Innovation Programme to accelerate UK business growth and strengthen the UK’s global leadership in offshore wind.
Two competitions will share up to £10m to support early and mid-stage offshore wind innovation projects that help companies develop new technologies, scale their businesses and compete internationally. Both competitions close on 3rd June 2026.
The Future Offshore Wind Technologies competition is split into 2 strands.
Feasibility studies
This strand supports early-stage innovation projects that explore the technical and commercial feasibility of new offshore wind technologies. Projects should test new ideas, assess their potential and generate the evidence needed to progress towards further research, development and commercialisation.
Projects must focus on one of the following areas:
- advanced turbine technology
- industrialised foundations and substructures
- future electrical systems and cables
- smart environmental services
- or next generation installation, operations and maintenance
Industrial research
This strand supports mid-stage innovation projects where technologies are more developed and require further research and development before commercial deployment. Projects should focus on advancing solutions that can deliver significant improvements to offshore wind technologies and supply chains.
Projects must focus on one of the following areas:
- offshore wind turbine blades or towers
- foundation and substructure solutions for deep water
- or innovations to reduce cable failure rates
Read more about the available funding:
- Future offshore wind technologies: feasibility studies (early stage projects, total costs of between £50,000 and £250,000, open to SMEs working alone or to business-led consortia which contain at least one SME)
- Future offshore wind technologies: industrial research (mid stage projects, total costs of between £150,000 and £1.5 million, open to business-led consortia which contain at least one SME)
