Connect is an industry-backed catalyst project designed to support East of England companies looking to bring a product or service to the renewable energy market.
The East of England is one of the UK’s largest offshore renewable energy hubs. The region has an established supply chain providing products and services to the sector, but a support need has been identified to increase visibility of market needs and provide specialist innovation support to enable growth.
The project is now open for expressions of interest here >
Benefit of applying?
Connect is a six month innovation derisking project where companies will have the opportunity to engage in a series of training workshops, pitch sessions and bespoke support to deliver technical advice and commercial support. The purpose of Connect is to enable supply chain companies to derisk their innovation through increasing their understanding of market needs and collaboration across the supply chain.
Support on offer includes:
- These sessions will cover a virtual sector briefing to summarise innovation challenge areas and 2 workshops to focus on key market areas of need defined by the programme industrial partners and explore research gaps and opportunities- more details to follow!
Benefits of engagement:
- Confidence in market pull factors to develop products and services.
- The support is open to academia, start-ups and established companies to stimulate cross supply chain collaboration.
Who is eligible?
We welcome registration from companies developing disruptive technologies targeting the industry.
- You must have a registered office in Norfolk, Suffolk or Essex.
- You must have a product or service in development applicable to the offshore renewables sector.
Timelines:
- Expressions of Interest, open: 23rd September, 2024
- East Wind Innovation webinar: 26th September, 2024 at 14:00
- ‘How to Sign up’ webinar: 14th October, 2024
- Applications, Expressions of Interest, close: 31st October, 2024
- Sector 101 Training (see ‘Useful Links’): November 2024
- Pitches: November- December 2024
- Academic engagement workshops December 2024- March 2025
Please note that further training updates will follow – keep an eye on this page for dates and more details.
How to apply
To register your interest in the first training sessions, please sign up here.
To apply for the pitches sessions and bespoke support, make sure to submit your expressions of interest. Deadline: 1st of November 2024
Useful links
Sector 101 training is the first opportunity to participate in the Connect programme and sessions will be run across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex in November. Here are the relevant Eventbrite links to sign up:
- Essex link: Connect: Sector 101 – Harwich Tickets, Wed 20 Nov 2024 at 12:00 | Eventbrite
- Suffolk link: Connect: Sector 101 – Lowestoft Tickets, Thu 21 Nov 2024 at 09:00 | Eventbrite
- Norfolk link: Connect: Sector 101 – Norwich Tickets, Thu 21 Nov 2024 at 12:00 | Eventbrite
Project deliverers and partners
We deliver the programme and jointly fund it with global renewable energy company Equinor and leading wind energy group developer ScottishPower Renewables, as well as with Essex County Council, Suffolk County Council and Norfolk County Council. Sessions will be run across the three sponsoring county’s (see ‘Useful Links’) and Sponsoring partners will provide key input into training sessions which will reflect market requirements, innovation and collaboration.
