UK testing facilities
ORE Catapult National Renewable Energy Centre
Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult
Blyth, Northumberland, England
Access: Yes
Testing capabilities
- Materials and structural testing
- Inspection and failure analysis
- Electrical, power and batteries
- Propulsion and fluid systems
- Functional and integrated-system testing
Services
Open-access offshore-renewable testing and validation for wind-turbine blades, powertrains, high-voltage electrical systems, cables and materials; failure investigation, mechanical testing, robotics and component/system demonstrations.
Equipment
Published site assets include 15 MW, 3 MW and 1 MW powertrain test facilities, 18 MVA grid emulation, 1 MW drivetrain rig, 100 kW rig and mini eGrid; HV laboratory testing up to 600 kV AC and 1 MV DC; 50 m and 100 m blade testing and blade rain-erosion rig are identified in the accreditation statement. Exact limits vary by asset and current site pages do not publish a single consolidated schedule.
Standards
UKAS ISO/IEC 17025:2017 service laboratory number 2769 for named ORE Catapult laboratories/facilities; materials page lists IEC 60502-2:2014, IEC 60840:2020, IEC 63026:2019 and IEC 62067:2011 for non-electrical HV cable type testing; UKAS scope is facility-specific.
Contact
Organisation-wide contact: Email: info@ore.catapult.org.uk, deri.galvin@ore.catapult.org.uk, kirsten.dyer@ore.catapult.org.uk, mark.forrest@ore.catapult.org.uk, stephen.jones@ore.catapult.org.uk, dimitrios.mamaliss@ore.catapult.org.uk, peter.kinsley@ore.catapult.org.uk, jaganath.thirunavukkarasu@ore.catapult.org.uk; Named contact: Dr Deri Galvin (Head of Industrialisation); Dr Kirsten Dyer (Lead R&D Engineer Materials); Dr Mark Forrest (Industrial Innovation Specialist); Dr Stephen Jones (Senior R&D Engineer Materials); Dr Dimitrios Mamalis (Senior R&D Engineer Materials & Process); Peter Kinsley (R&D Materials Engineer); Jaganath Thirunavukkarasu (R&D Engineer)
Approximate location
Blyth ยท Town location