DARE centre opens to accelerate robotics for offshore renewables
In a first for the UK, a new facility called DARE has opened in Blyth aimed at accelerating digital and robotic products and services for the offshore renewable energy market.
The £3m Digital, Autonomous and Robotics Engineering (DARE) Centre at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s testing facility was opened yesterday (May 18, 2023) by Graham Stuart, the UK government’s minister for energy security and net zero.
UK offshore wind is set to triple capacity over the next decade and the adoption of robotics and autonomous systems is seen as vital to achieving this expansion and reaching Net Zero.
Stuart said: “Drones, robots and underwater vehicles can reinforce the UK’s position as the world leader in offshore wind, make us even more competitive, and keep turbines turning in even the most hazardous of conditions.”
The DARE Centre includes a robotics assembly bay, an airborne robotics test zone, three dry docks with 20,000m3 capacity and test control rooms linked to the docks via a live environment monitoring system.
Andrew Jamieson, chief executive at ORE Catapult, said: “The UK has a global reputation for its sub-ocean engineering expertise and ingenuity. The DARE Centre will propel UK businesses and this capability into the fast-expanding offshore wind space.
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Comment: The UK is closer to deindustrialisation than reindustrialisation
"..have been years in the making" and are embedded in the actors - thus making it difficult for UK industry to move on and develop and apply...