UK and China create $295m offshore wind collaboration

A British wind energy research hub and a Chinese offshore wind business have formed a partnership that is expected to generate as much as 220 million pounds ($295 million) for UK companies and universities.

The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, a research center based in Glasgow, signed an agreement on Friday with Tus-Wind, the wind power subsidiary of Beijing-based Tus-Clean Energy, to collaborate on the construction of a 500-megawatt offshore wind farm in Shandong Province.

The deal will see 10 to 15 percent of the technology content in the 500-megawatt farm come from UK firms and research centers, generating them an estimated 220 million pounds.

The ORE Catapult will also partner on the development of the Tus Offshore Wind Science Park and establish a UK-China Technology Growth Accelerator to boost UK technology deployment in the Chinese offshore wind market.

The announcement came during the ninth UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue which is being held on Friday and Saturday in Beijing.

UK business secretary Greg Clark, who is part of the British delegation, confirmed he is co-chairing an energy dialogue with China's National Energy Administration. "I will be further advancing cooperation between the UK and China on offshore technologies, where the UK leads the world, and renewable energy projects, while reaffirming our joint commitment to work together on clean energy research," Clark said on Friday.

In November, the UK announced it would lend expertise to Chinese developers of offshore wind farms as part of China's $100 billion wind power expansion plans.

The newly formed International Offshore Renewable Energy Research Platform will see British companies work on technical solutions for wind farms in the South China Sea, where China plans to install 5 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2020.

The platform is funded by British innovation agent Innovate UK and overseen by the ORE Catapult.

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