UNITED KINGDOM
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
KEY R&D INSTITUTIONS AND RELEVANT R&D PROJECTS
KEY R&D INSTITUTIONS
The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE Catapult)
The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult came into operation in 2013. It was established by Innovate UK to
accelerate the development of innovative technology that will lead to cost reductions in the offshore wind, wave and
tidal sectors. It is one of seven Catapult centres set up to bridge the gap between research and commercialisation in the
UK. By analysing and prioritising industry issues and by active involvement in current research developments, the ORE
Catapult will initiate programmes to accelerate the development of innovative engineering solutions.
Following the merger with the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec), the ORE Catapult now offers an integrated
engineering, research and testing capability for the offshore renewable energy sector. Facilities include powertrain testing,
still water docks, simulated seabed, component testing, high voltage laboratory and wind turbine blade testing. ORE
Catapult participate in various wave and tidal stream related projects, such as looking at improvements to the reliability
of tidal turbine powertrains.
Supergen
The Supergen programme was set up in 2001 to deliver sustained and coordinated research on Sustainable PowER GENeration
and supply. The Supergen UK Centre for Marine Energy Research (UKCMER) entered its sixth year of operation
in 2016 and continued to coordinate UK research into wave and tidal energy technologies.
During 2016, a review of the Supergen programme by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
concluded that, from mid-2017, the Wind and Marine hubs should be amalgamated in to a new Offshore Renewable
Energy hub, allowing for better identification of synergies between the sectors.
KEY R&D PROJECTS
DTOcean
The 3 year long DTOcean project came to a conclusion in 2016. DTOcean (Optimal Design Tools for Ocean Energy Arrays)
was a collaborative research and development project funded by the European Commission. It gathered 18 partner
organisations from 11 countries and was co-ordinated by the University of Edinburgh. DTOcean aims to accelerate the
industrial development of marine energy by creating software tools for the optimised design of first generation wave
and tidal energy converter arrays.
The complete DTOcean software package includes the following computational modules:
• Hydrodynamic Array Layout
• Electrical System Architecture
• Moorings & Foundations
• Array Installation
• Operations & Maintenance
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Given a set of user inputs regarding the chosen wave or tidal energy converter and array location, DTOcean identifies
optimal layouts, components and procedures in each of the above modules. Optimality is established at array lifecycle
level, taking into account dependencies between each module, and is defined in terms of three key metrics: Levelised
Cost of Energy (LCoE); Reliability; and Environmental Impact.
