Engineering news
The construction of floating offshore wind farms could be sped up thanks to another scheme, amongst 17 projects around the UK that will receive up to £50,000 from the government.
The “ambitious” research and innovation ideas are receiving the funding to “create high value jobs, upskill local workers and boost economic growth”, the government said. Each project will have the opportunity to apply for a further long-term investment of £10-50m through the second round of UK Research and Innovation’s Strength in Places Fund later this year, if early stages of development are successful.
HotScot, led by the University of Strathclyde, aims to provide low-cost, low-carbon heat by extracting energy from water in disused, flooded mines in Glasgow. The consortium aims to deliver economic growth equivalent to £303m and about 9,800 jobs across the Central Belt of Scotland with three geothermal projects.
The South West Floating Offshore Wind Accelerator, led by Wave Hub, hopes to fast-track the construction of large floating offshore wind farms in the Celtic Sea from 2025 onwards, contributing to the UK’s target of 40GW from offshore wind by 2030.
Other projects receiving funding include the International Centre for Connected Construction, which aims to speed up construction and improve building site safety, and Trans-Mid, which will partner universities to develop new green transport options.
“Today’s funding forms part of the government’s ambitious commitment to increase public spending in research and development (R&D) by £22bn by 2024-25, putting the UK on track to reach 2.4% of GDP being spent on R&D across the UK economy by 2027,” the government announcement said.
Business secretary Alok Sharma said: “We are backing our innovators and with the support they need to turn great ideas into first-class industries, products and technologies.
“From virtual construction projects to extracting clean heat from disused mines, the pioneering projects we are funding today will help create jobs and boost skills across the UK as we continue to drive forward our economic recovery.”
For more information on projects receiving funding, visit the UKRI website.
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