Offshore Wind Manufacturing Funding Guidance
COREs
Centres for Offshore Renewable Engineering (COREs) are partnerships between Central and Local Government and Local Economic Partnerships (LEPs). COREs ensure businesses looking to invest in manufacturing for the offshore renewables industry receive the most comprehensive support possible.
We have initially concentrated on five locations which we know are the focus of the investment enquiries from renewable manufacturing businesses. Download the prospectuses for more information:
See also the overarching publication on Centres for Offshore Renewable Engineering (PDF, 425 Kb) .
Background to Offshore Wind Manufacturing funding
In October 2010, the Government announced up to £60m to support the establishment of offshore wind manufacturing at ports sites in the assisted areas of England. Separately, to help progress this, The Crown Estate will also work with interested ports and manufacturers to realise the potential of their sites. To this end, the Government and The Crown Estate signed a Letter of Intent to work together to support the development of offshore wind manufacturing capacity in the UK.
Getting information on the Offshore Wind Manufacturing funding
Offshore wind manufacturers will be able to apply for support for major investments under the Grants for Business Investment (GBI) scheme in assisted areas of England. This can include joint applications by manufacturers together with ports/landowners where there this forms a single project - however the funding is not available for port-only applications which do not include or are not linked to an offshore wind manufacturer.
The GBI scheme is an existing State Aid notified national business support scheme which has established criteria and processes, which supports sustainable investment and job creation in the assisted areas of England.
Applications will be considered for support for major investments by offshore wind manufacturers with large-scale coastal manufacturing requirements such as turbine, foundation, cable and tower manufacturers. Applications will be handled in the normal way, and assessed using published criteria and processes; details of the scheme are available online: Grant for Business Investment Guidelines (PDF, 839KB)
Applications will be considered by the independent Industrial Development Advisory Board which will submit advice to DECC Ministers, who will make decisions on funding. Funding is available from April 2011 to March 2015. However, it will take time for applications to be processed, and we are ready to receive applications before then.
What should you do next?
In the first instance, you should contact Allan Taylor, Assistant Director at DECC to note your interest and details of the funding. He can be contacted at allan.taylor@decc.gsi.gov.uk
If you wish to discuss the Grant for Business Investment scheme, how it works, criteria and assessment, please contact Neil Waby at BIS at Neil.Waby@bis.gov.gsi.uk
What is the role of The Crown Estate?
The Crown Estate will act as a facilitator between port owners and manufacturers to support the development of offshore wind manufacturing. If a port owner, wishes to discuss what role The Crown estate can play, please contact Roy Evans at roy.evans@thecrownestate.co.uk
