Companies with an interest in developing innovative subsea technologies are being invited to take part in a three-year initiative which forges R&D partnerships between Scotland and Japan.

Industry body Subsea UK and NSRI, in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, has announced the call as part of a partnership between Scottish Enterprise and the Nippon Foundation.

It will oversee a total of £15million invested into R&D projects over three years.

Organisations are being asked to get involved by identifying how their offerings meet the needs of the evolving subsea sector under the theme of the ‘Blue Economy’. 

The call will include the wider underwater industries, focussing on renewables, aquaculture and carbon capture storage. 

The current market value of the ‘Blue Economy’ is valued at £50 billion with Scotland currently achieving £7 billion, mainly from oil and gas. 

The global market is projected to reach £140 billion by 2035.

The opportunity exists for Scottish or Japanese companies to lead or partner within a project team. Companies can submit an initial expression of interest via the Subsea UK website which has a closing date of 15th February 2019.

Successful projects will be revealed in September 2019 at Offshore Europe.

“This initiative with Japan will bring the world-renowned subsea expertise in Scotland to new markets,” says Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK. 

“We are hoping this will open up opportunities to a wide range of companies and allow them access to the support and knowledge required to further develop their innovative ideas, tools and systems.”

The project forms part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which was signed between Scottish Enterprise and the Japanese philanthropic organisation, The Nippon Foundation at SPE Offshore Europe in 2017.

As part of the collaboration, an open workshop will take place at Subsea Expo in February 2019, which will see a number of Japanese companies taking part and will give an opportunity for Scottish companies to meet with potential Japanese partners.

The extensive collaboration work with Japan will make a strong contribution to the delivery of the Subsea Engineering Action Plan, launched by Scottish Enterprise in 2017, with the aim of capturing an even bigger slice of the £50 billion global subsea market by Scottish companies.