Knowledge diffusion and competition

The diffusion of knowledge and networking are influenced driven by the competitive environment faced by stakeholders in the technology sector.

The interplay between the competitiveness in the offshore wind sector, which was significantly increased following the change from the Renewables Obligation to the Contracts for Difference system, and collaboration within it, was noted by a number of interviewees:

“The space in which we can collaborate as an industry has changed because of competition.” – WPD1

5.4.2 Actors, institutions and networks 5.4.2.1 Actors

Actor Typical activities Wind vs Tidal Stream

and Wave

specified by industry partners “Academic” R&D on offshore wind is largely

other funders Provision of funding routes (see Section 5.6) and setting of policy objectives (which can lead to knowledge diffusion, as

Funding route for offshore wind much clearer than for marine, especially following

with Cost Reduction Task

Force, see Section 5.5) Offshore Wind Sector Deal

Consultants and

employees Informal transfer of knowledge

around the sector Offshore wind employs many more than marine, making potential for diffusion greater

Table 5-5: F3 - actors and activities (author’s analysis)

Actors in offshore wind and marine sectors take specific roles in the diffusion of knowledge which may be either formal or informal. The interviewees strongly expressed a recognition that diffusion of knowledge and networking were beneficial for both sectors, but that achieving diffusion of knowledge was challenging, and impacted by other factors. In particular, the competitive environment was seen to be a strong factor limiting scope for collaboration.

5.4.2.2 Institutions

Hard and soft institutions are at work in diffusion of knowledge and networking.

“Hard Institutions”

The hard institutions active in knowledge diffusion and networking in offshore wind and marine renewables include those bodies specifically set up for the purpose, including the ORE Catapult, the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator, EMEC, and Wave Energy Scotland.

These networks provide a framework through with actors in the sector can collaborate, and were cited by multiple interviewees:

“If we look at the ORE Catapult, we've got the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub which is looking at technology roadmaps, strategy roadmaps for offshore and looking at what are these cross-sector issues… a body that's going to convene and pull academia in and a bit of joint industry stuff to actually solve these” – SO75

“I can give you a really good example: BEIS and the Industry established a joint initiative called innovation hub. So this is industry working together to advise both government and academia on the kind of technology and innovation priorities for the industry. The group has had great support from across the industry; all the

Additionally, across both sectors there are many conferences at which both formal and informal networking takes place:

“In the last 6 or 7 years, there has been a large explosion in conferences, the number of initiatives to get people to share and work together.” – SH43

In some of the early leasing rounds for offshore wind, formal joint ventures were agreed between developers [48]. This adopted a strategy common in the oil sector, in which operators form JVs to explore and develop oil projects, thereby reducing their exposure to individual projects. These JVs would require sharing of technical information between partners, thereby driving some diffusion of knowledge.

Additionally, some funding mechanisms require collaboration and knowledge diffusion. For example, the author was involved with a UK-based project which was combined with a Swedish-led project under the European Union Sixth Framework Programme, with combination expected to deliver broader results, with better collaboration and at lower cost [153].

“Soft institutions”

As with the development of knowledge (see Section 5.3), the diffusion of knowledge also relies on a culture of sharing. As discussed in Section 5.4.1.6, the culture of sharing across the informal networks in marine energy is strong. Laura Watts [146], describes this culture:

“The Orkney marine energy industry is a global nexus where developers from around the world come together. At the EMEC test site they have to learn how to operate at sea together”. Watts, p.336

Anecdotally, in offshore wind, very deliberate steps are taken to counteract these soft institutions, by emphasising the commercial sensitivity of some information (such as CfD bid prices) to ensure that this critical information does not leak. As SH36 said:

“Sharing is the absolute ideal: you share lessons learned earlier, and everything accelerates faster. The problem is people don't always have the time or will.” – SH36

5.4.2.3 Networks

Both formal and informal networks are at work in relation to diffusion of knowledge. Formally, networks included Government-sponsored entities such as the Offshore Wind Cost Reduction Task Force, the Energy Technology Partnership (a collaboration between Universities) and relationships between some OEMs and Universities with specific scope. For example:

“It's back to ORE Catapults, the Offshore Wind Accelerator - I think there's a big role for these guys to possibly be a bit more powerful in terms of the knowledge diffusion.” – SC56

“The likes of DONG and SiemensGamesa getting together with a group of Universities and some grant funding to look into the challenges facing knowledge base, and that brings together largely I suppose the R&D and academic community alongside commercial enterprise.” – SC20

5.4.3 Metrics, indicators and drivers

Metric /

Indicator / Driver

Offshore

wind Comments Marine Comments

Numbers of

slight

Sector Deal The Sector Deal [47] involved

developed Offshore wind already employs

Table 5-6: F3 metrics, indicators and drivers: offshore wind and marine (author's analysis)