The Crown Estate has allocated £15 million for the next round of the Supply Chain Accelerator which it launched last year to accelerate and de-risk the early-stage development of UK supply chain projects servicing the offshore wind sector.
The £50 million program seeks to kick-start investments in UK offshore wind-related port infrastructure and supply chain facilities. Following the passing of The Crown Estate Act 2025, this second round has been expanded to include UK ports and port-related infrastructure to support the construction, assembly, manufacturing, operations & maintenance, and wet storage of fixed and floating offshore wind, as well as supply chain opportunities that support deployment.
It supports existing early-stage projects to scale up into attractive capital investment opportunities, helping to drive demand for new jobs and skills. In the second funding round businesses can apply for up to £1.5 million per eligible project, with The Crown Estate providing 50% matched funding for early-stage development expenditure together with an option to participate in the capital investment phase.
The application process is now open and is due to close at the end of June. Successful projects will be chosen following an application assessment process and announced by the end of the year.
The UK government has set a target of up to 50 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind deployed by 2030. Currently 14.7GW of offshore wind is deployed off the UK’s coasts. The Crown Estate’s current Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5 expected to deliver up to 4.5GW in the Celtic Sea.
In December last year The Crown Estate awarded nearly £5 million in funding to 13 businesses following the conclusion of the Supply Chain Accelerator’s initial funding round, which focused on developing a new UK supply chain capability for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.
“Ports are vital national assets which are key to unlocking the huge potential of our exciting clean energy transition,” said Gus Jaspert, Managing Director, Marine at The Crown Estate. “Providing funding for port infrastructure and supply chain facilities is an obvious and important next move for our Supply Chain Accelerator.”
