An additional £15 million of early-stage development funding is being made available through The Crown Estate’s Supply Chain Accelerator to support offshore wind supply chain businesses and projects.
A third funding round has been launched following two successful rounds of this innovative programme, with nearly £18 million awarded so far to 26 organisations for exciting projects across the UK, ranging from an operations and maintenance hub in Port Talbot to a floating offshore wind test centre in Orkney.
The application window for this next round, which is open to projects UK-wide, is due to close on 3 July. Businesses can apply for up to 50% match funding of between £250 000 and £2 million for early-stage development expenditure.
The launch of this third round follows continued growth of the UK’s world-leading offshore wind sector. Developers behind three sites for up to 4.5 GW of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea are now in Agreement for Lease, and The Crown Estate recently announced its intention to launch a new opportunity for around 6 GW or more of capacity through Leasing Round 6.
This leasing round is expected to come to market in 2027 and will be the first leasing round brought to market using The Crown Estate’s innovative Marine Delivery Routemap, which should provide greater long-term visibility of potential investment opportunities and help maximise onshore benefits.
Julia Rose, Head of Offshore Wind at The Crown Estate, said: “Maintaining the UK’s world-leading position in the offshore wind sector relies on ensuring the supply chain is able to support the large scale construction, deployment and maintenance of offshore wind infrastructure in the pipeline.
“Our Accelerator programme, in alignment with investments from other organisations into the supply chain, is providing the financial support many early-stage projects require to help scale up from ambition to reality. We’re very pleased to be launching a third funding round and continue the exciting progress already made through the first two rounds.”
The Crown Estate established the £50 million Supply Chain Accelerator in 2024 to accelerate and de-risk the early-stage development of UK supply chain projects servicing the offshore wind sector, with the aim of supporting faster deployment of technology in UK waters.
The programme seeks to advance new and existing projects to scale up into attractive capital investment opportunities, helping to drive demand for new jobs and skills, and is part of The Crown Estate’s broader ambition to invest up to £400 million in the offshore wind supply chain.
Projects must align with the opportunities identified in the Industrial Growth Plan (IGP) and/or with the ports and port-related infrastructure required to support these priorities.
Successful projects will be chosen following an application assessment process and announced by the end of the year. The Crown Estate is being supported by professional services firm Grant Thornton.
Great British Energy will consider co-investing alongside The Crown Estate to fund projects which align with their mission and successfully complete their development work through the Supply Chain Accelerator.
Great British Energy's Director of Supply Chains Rob Gilbert said: "This an-nouncement is a significant moment for the UK's offshore wind supply chain as it scales to deliver our ambitious domestic project pipeline and capitalise on the export opportunities for clean energy capabilities built here in Britain.
“As the Supply Chain Accelerator enters its third round, Great British Energy will continue working closely with The Crown Estate through our £1 billion Energy, Engineered in the UK Programme to ensure innovative businesses can access the support they need to grow, creating jobs and delivering a cheaper, more secure energy system.” Energy Minister, Michael Shanks, said: “Events in the Middle East underline just how vulnerable we are to volatile fossil fuel markets, with price shocks creating real uncertainty for families and businesses here in the UK.
“By investing in British infrastructure and innovation, we can reduce that exposure, boost energy security, and ensure the benefits of clean, homegrown power are felt in communities right across the country from Blyth to Port Talbot and Orkney.”
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