University of Sheffield Offshore Wind Partnership shortlisted for World Sustainability Awards

The World Sustainability Awards are hosted by Sustainability Leaders, a global network for senior corporate executives which aims to accelerate sustainability initiatives. Each year, the globally recognised awards celebrate disruptors and change makers in the sustainability community. The prosperity partnership team from the University of Sheffield are happy to announce that the ‘New Partnership in Offshore Wind’ project has this year been shortlisted for the external partnership award. 

This particular category celebrates a collaboration between at least two organisations which is having a positive impact on environmental, social and governance conditions, and recognises the need for businesses to partner with external stakeholders in order to create lasting change. The 2022 winner of this award was AB InBev’s 100+ accelerator, which is a global incubator programme working to fund start-ups in the field of sustainability and therefore solve supply chain challenges. This year’s winners will be announced on 19th October in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The full shortlist for all of the World Sustainability Awards can be viewed on the Sustainability Leaders website.

Myself and Professor Zi-Qiang Zhu are delighted to report that the recently completed EPSRC Prosperity Partnership project 'A New Partnership in Offshore Wind' has been shortlisted for a World Sustainability Award. The project has been a fantastic collaboration with our partners. We are honoured to be shortlisted within the External Partnership category, which includes excellent and high-profile organisations, and we are looking forward to the announcement of the results at the ceremony in Amsterdam in October.

Keith Dean

Project Manager for “A New Partnership in Offshore Wind”, University of Sheffield

The partnership, titled ‘A new partnership in offshore wind’, was a five year long, £7.64m project led by Professor Zi-Qiang Zhu from the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Sheffield. The multidisciplinary team working on the project were made up of staff from across electrical and mechanical engineering fields at the Universities of Sheffield, Durham and Hull, as well as at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Ørsted, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. You can watch the below video to learn more about the work the partnership carried out to bring down the cost of offshore wind, or read more on our webpage about the project.

The project was able to address issues which will support UK supply chain growth, and reduced offshore wind’s levelised electricity costs - therefore reducing reliance on non-renewable sources of energy. Over the course of the project there have abeen over 150 publications produced, 20 patent applications submitted,  and over 80 engagement activities carried out to encourage good practice and increase knowledge exchange.

The research from the project, and the successful collaborations within it, have already led to substantial amounts of additional funding (in excess of £18M) being awarded to develop the team’s ideas and innovations even further. However, in their assessment of the project's success within their report brochure, the team notes that it is crucial for funding for offshore wind power to now continue, to enable us to further increase the percentage of our energy needs which are satisfied through carbon-free, sustainable energy.