ORE Catapult National Renewable Energy Centre, Blyth
ORE CatapultBlyth, Northumberland
ORE Catapult’s National Renewable Energy Centre is in Blyth. Its current UKAS 2769 schedule covers specified blade, erosion and electrical tests at named Blyth subsites. The owner separately advertises drivetrain and materials services. This guide selects supported methods and limits, with each scheduled location kept distinct from the primary contact address. Confirm the exact method, test site and report status before arranging work.
Reviewed by Arc · About this review
Key facts
- Primary contact location
- The owner lists NREC at Offshore House, Albert Street, Blyth, Northumberland NE24 1LZ. The schedule’s organisation address is Ridley Street, Blyth NE24 3AG.
- Scheduled Blyth test sites
- A1 is the 50 m Blade Test Facility at Euroseas Centre, Albert Street NE24 1LZ. A2 is the 100 m Blade Test Facility at Albert Street NE24 1LZ. B is Charles Parsons Technology Centre, High Quay NE24 2AZ. C is the Blade Erosion Test Rig at Offshore House, Albert Street NE24 1LZ.
- Current method evidence
- UKAS laboratory 2769’s ISO/IEC 17025:2017 schedule is issue 034, dated 21 April 2026. The current result and linked schedule were retrieved on 1 October 2026. Accreditation applies to the specified location and method rows.
- Published enquiry routes
- The schedule gives +44 1670 357706 and jonathan.robison@ore.catapult.org.uk. Owner service pages give philip.barton@ore.catapult.org.uk for drivetrains and David.hoyle@ore.catapult.org.uk for materials. These are published routes, with no separately verified present-person role.
Testing capabilities
Full-scale blade physical testing at A1 and A2
The schedule lists static, fatigue, natural-frequency, centre-of-gravity and mass tests at both blade sites. A2 also lists torsional stiffness. IEC 61400-23:2014 excludes clause 10.4.3 creep, mass distribution and stiffness distribution, and clause 11.1 blade sectioning.
Leading-edge erosion testing at C
The C row lists liquid-impingement and blade-erosion testing of leading-edge protection systems using in-house PR 38001. The procedure is based on ASTM G73 (2012) testing methods and DNVGL-RP 0171 (2018) reporting requirements.
Selected power-cable electrical tests at B
Selected B rows list partial discharge, tan delta, heat cycles, heat-cycle voltage, impulse and HVAC tests for the specified power-cable classes. Each row’s standards, clauses and conditions control the work. The 1–30, 30–150 and 150–500 kV bands describe cable classes, rather than a universal applied-test-voltage range.
Cable tensile-bending testing at A1
The A1 row lists cable and accessory tensile-bending tests to CIGRE TB 623:2015 section 5.2 and IEC 63026:2019 clause 12.4.2. Its sample length is 30–60 m and applied force is 0–500 kN. Those limits are specific to this row.
Owner-published Blyth drivetrain testing
The owner lists 15, 3 and 1 MW drivetrain facilities in Blyth and an 18 MVA eGrid system. The 15 and 3 MW descriptions specify six-degree loading and grid emulation. These owner services are separate from the detailed current UKAS 2769 scope.
Owner-published materials tests and failure investigation
The NREC materials page describes root-cause investigations for HV cables, turbine blades and HV bushings, plus tensile, compression, three-point bend and peel tests. It also describes small-scale DMA research tests. These broader owner descriptions do not establish accreditation for every method. The new tribology laboratory is described as under development.
Equipment and published limits
| Specification | Published value | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| A1 blade individual force | Maximum individual force 400 kN | Scheduled 50 m blade-site limit, separate from A1 cable tensile-bending force and subject to the proposed blade configuration. |
| A2 blade individual force | Maximum individual force 600 kN | Scheduled 100 m blade-site limit. It is not a generic force capacity for every NREC test. |
| A1 cable tensile-bending conditions | Sample 30–60 m, applied force 0–500 kN | Specific scheduled cable and accessory tensile-bending row. No adjacent repair-joint or blade-test range is substituted. |
| Owner drivetrain and grid facilities | 15, 3 and 1 MW rigs, 18 MVA eGrid | Owner-published Blyth facility ratings. The current detailed schedule does not establish drivetrain accreditation or a universal combined test envelope. |
Access and contact
Use the schedule phone or email for the specified tests, or the owner’s drivetrain and materials mailboxes for those services. The owner also supplies info@ore.catapult.org.uk, a general form and a Blyth induction link. Offshore House is the primary contact location. Agree the actual test subsite, specimen, method, witnessing, report status, quotation and programme with the provider.
Facility contact
- Address
- Offshore House, Albert Street
Blyth, Northumberland, NE24 1LZ
United Kingdom - Telephone
- +44 1670 357706
- Website
- Official test house website
Standards and accreditation
- UKAS 2769, ISO/IEC 17025:2017
- Issue 034 dated 21 April 2026 specifies methods at A1, A2, B and C. Accreditation follows those rows and sites. The PDF’s 29 April 2026 creation/modification metadata is separate from the issue date.
- Selected methods and exclusions
- Blade IEC 61400-23:2014 exclusions apply as stated above. Erosion uses in-house PR 38001 based on distinct ASTM testing and DNVGL reporting references. Cable work follows the listed row-specific editions and clauses. Owner drivetrain and broader materials claims are not blanket accredited scope.
What to confirm with the facility
- Primary Offshore House, registered Ridley Street and scheduled A1/A2/B/C addresses have different roles. Confirm the actual test location rather than treating the primary address as the site for every method.
- This is a selected scope. A1/A2 blade forces, A1 cable tensile-bending conditions and cable voltage classes are separate quantities. Broad owner electrical limits, other ORE locations and planned tribology work do not add accredited methods or present test capacity.
- Provide the intended method, specimen configuration, acceptance criteria, report requirements, witnessing needs and programme so the provider can confirm suitability and cost.
Before requesting a test
Public information not available. Contact test facility provider for more information.
Frequently asked questions
Public information not available. Contact test facility provider for more information.
Related testing facilities
Public information not available. Contact test facility provider for more information.
Further reading
Public information not available. Contact test facility provider for more information.
Sources and review
Reviewed by Arc on 1 October 2026 in Europe/London using eight fresh official sources. All ten complete pages of the current UKAS 2769 issue 034 schedule were inspected. Selected methods retain their location codes, IEC exclusions and row limits. Owner drivetrain and wider materials services remain separate from the detailed accredited scope. Original bodies, headers, retrieval records, HTML titles and canonicals, PDF metadata, extraction and page renders are preserved. Owner canonicals point to the site root, with no verified page dates. The drivetrain HTML title is empty. UKAS directory-template dates are not result updates. Schedule issue date 21 April 2026 and PDF metadata dated 29 April 2026 are separate from this review. Earlier discovery captures, including the 2023 brochure, remain unchanged and do not supply current scope. No coordinates are inferred.
Arc publishes this directory entry and does not operate the test facility. Suggest a correction to Arc with a supporting source.
ORE Catapult testing and validation, National Renewable Energy Centre block
The named NREC block identifies Blyth. General cross-facility services and separate Aberdeen and Levenmouth blocks do not extend NREC scope. The original canonical is the site root, with no verified page publication or modification date.
ORE Catapult contact page, National Renewable Energy Centre location
The owner lists NREC at Offshore House, Albert Street, Blyth, Northumberland NE24 1LZ and links a Blyth induction. This primary contact location is distinct from the registered Ridley Street address and scheduled subsites. The general info email/form is separate from the schedule contact. No verified page date was found.
UKAS 2769 testing schedule, issue 034
Issue 034 is dated 21 April 2026. PDF creation/modification metadata is 29 April 2026. All ten complete pages were inspected. A1, A2, B and C control the listed methods and addresses. Selected blade, erosion, cable electrical and cable tensile-bending rows are retained with exclusions and limits. Blank location cells and the ambiguous switchgear resistance unit are not filled in. Owner drivetrain and wider materials descriptions do not acquire accredited status from this schedule.
UKAS Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult laboratory 2769 result
The exact result names Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, laboratory 2769, at Ridley Street, Blyth NE24 3AG and links the testing schedule. Unrelated results are excluded. Directory-template publication on 30 June 2020 and modification on 11 November 2022 are not result or scope update dates.
ORE Catapult Drivetrains page, Blyth facilities
The page explicitly locates the 15, 3 and 1 MW drivetrain facilities in Blyth and describes an 18 MVA grid emulator. The 15 and 3 MW descriptions specify six-degree loading and grid emulation. These are owner-published services, with no drivetrain rows in the inspected current 2769 schedule. The original HTML title is empty, the visible heading is DRIVETRAINS, and the canonical is the site root. No verified page date was found.
ORE Catapult Materials Services at National Renewable Energy Centre
The page explicitly anchors Materials Services to NREC Blyth and describes failure investigation and mechanical materials tests. These owner descriptions are not blanket accredited scope. Its detailed tribology text says the new laboratory is under development, so current tribometric characterisation is not listed. The original canonical is the site root, with no verified page date.
ORE Catapult Electrical Networks page
The page advertises broad electrical testing and breakdown limits of 600 kV AC and 1 MV DC. Those owner limits are not assigned to every accredited method. Explicit FLOWIC and Levenmouth sections are separate locations. This guide follows selected B rows in the current schedule. The original canonical is the site root, with no verified page date.
ORE Catapult Turbine Blades page
Owner descriptions of 100 m+ and 50 m R&D facilities provide context. This guide follows the current A1/A2 rows, force limits and IEC exclusions. Broader research, destruction and lightning statements are not converted into unrestricted accredited methods. The separate 7 MW turbine is excluded from Blyth rig allocation. The original canonical is the site root, with no verified page date.