Deadline: October 03, 2025
Ørsted is inviting innovative digital solutions developed in other industries to be adapted for offshore wind operations and maintenance (O&M).
The Ørsted Digital Innovation Challenge focuses on predictive maintenance, including failure prediction, condition monitoring analytics, and anomaly detection; operations modelling and optimisation, such as digital twins for turbine performance, virtual simulations, and lifetime extension strategies; automated inspections for defect detection and reporting; logistics and resource management, including weather analytics, vessel scheduling, and smart warehouse and inventory management; remote maintenance and workforce enablement, such as AR remote troubleshooting, VR training simulations, and maintenance robots; transparency and trust in supply chains, including digital ledgers and smart contract management; and other innovative proposals aligned with the digitalisation goals of offshore wind operations and maintenance.
The Ørsted Digital Innovation Challenge seeks to harness digital solutions to improve efficiency, reduce operational costs, and enhance safety and reliability in offshore wind O&M. Two successful companies will receive fully-funded support, sector-specific technology expertise from Digital Catapult and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, and the opportunity to develop their solutions in collaboration with Ørsted. By leveraging experience from industries such as fintech, transport, entertainment, health, defence, telecoms, and infrastructure, participants can address operational challenges and bring new insights to the offshore wind sector.
Offshore wind O&M activities are often manual, labour-intensive, and sensitive to weather conditions, increasing the demand for smarter, automated, and data-driven solutions. The sector generates vast amounts of data, and the challenge encourages the use of predictive analytics, digital twins, automated inspections, smart logistics, remote workforce enablement, and transparent supply chain management to optimise performance and safety.
Eligible applicants are legally registered UK-based companies of all sizes from any industry, provided their digital solutions can be adapted for offshore wind O&M. Solutions should be at least TRL3 in an offshore wind context, with mature solutions from other sectors welcomed. Participants must commit to programme activities, including pitching, and engage with support from ORE Catapult and Digital Catapult.
Applications close at 18:00 on Friday, 3 October 2025. Shortlisted companies will be invited to a pitch day on Thursday, 20 November 2025. Evaluation criteria include innovation and alignment, potential impact, feasibility and scalability, team experience, and programme fit. Selected participants will retain all intellectual property, while support will help mature solutions toward commercialisation.
For more information, visit Digital Catapult.
