The Supergen ORE Hub 2023 Annual Assembly took place on 12 July 2023, hosted by the University of Southampton. An accompanying Early Career Researcher (ECR) Forum took place the previous day (11 July 2023).
- View available resources from the Annual Assembly here, including slide packs and pre-recorded videos.
- View information about the ECR Forum here
About the Annual Assembly
The Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Hub organise an Annual Assembly to give an opportunity to those working in the offshore wind, wave and tidal energy sectors the chance to explore and debate cutting-edge research, find out about the latest opportunities and challenges in offshore renewable energy technologies, and network with the offshore renewable community, including academics, industry professionals and policymakers.
On opening the event, our Director Professor Deborah Greaves OBE, announced that the Supergen ORE Impact Hub has been awarded £7.5 million by EPSRC to accelerate the impact of current and future ORE devices and systems and to drive the UK towards its net zero commitments. We were delighted to share this news and discuss our plans for the next phase of our work.
We were pleased to be joined by keynote speakers from prominent organisations from across industry and academia, providing updates on the latest research across disciplines and sharing insight from industry. Our keynote speakers were Caitlin Byers, Development Manager (Integration & Transition) at the Crown Estate Scotland, Henry Jeffrey, Co-Director of the Supergen ORE Hub and Head of Policy Unit at the University of Edinburgh, Ajai Ahluwalia, Head of Supply Chain at RenewableUK and Hayley Hinchen, Principal Consultant with Howell Marine and also ECOWIND Champion.
We also took the opportunity to hold discussions on key themes and challenges in the ORE sector led by a panel of experts with questions invited from the delegates. The Assembly's agenda included the following sessions:
- A brief overview of core research in the Supergen ORE Hub delivered by our Co-Directors.
- Quick updates on some of our Supergen ORE Hub Flexible Funded projects and EPSRC Wave Energy Projects Research.
- Presentations and discussions on the topic of unlocking growth targets: the changes needed within policy and practice to enable targets for 2030 and beyond to be achieved.
- Presentations and discussions on the topic of people power: how to grow and sustain the workforce needed to deliver net zero and ensure that Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is a core element of the journey to 2030 and beyond.
- Presentations and discussions on the topic of the global local industry: how to best share best ORE practice through international collaboration and how we ensure all communities and regions can benefit from ORE growth.
The Assembly also showcased posters from our Early Career Researcher Community with prizes being awarded to:
- Third place: Aananthy Sarma (University of Hull) - "Multi-Point Sensing & Defect Detection of Wind Turbine Blades: An Approach Using Fibre Bragg Gratings"
- Second place: Anna Holcombe (University of Plymouth) - "Comparison of a scaled physical model and numerical model of a dynamic power cable for a floating offshore wind turbine"
- First place: Saeid Lotfian (University of Strathclyde) - "A Novel Procedure for the Ultrasonic Inspection of Wind Turbine Bolted Connection"
You can view a booklet of all the ECR abstracts and posters here.
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who attended, our speakers, session chairs and panel members, and the team at the University of Southampton for hosting - your contribution made the event a great success.
We look forward to welcoming you to our next Assembly which we expect to be in Spring 2024 (TBC).
