In the SEASTAR project, coordinator Nova Innovation (Nova) leads a world-class team to deliver a 4MW array of 16 tidal stream turbines at the EMEC Fall of Warness tidal site in Orkney - the world’s first large tidal farm, which will contain more tidal turbines than are currently deployed worldwide. SEASTAR will utilise Nova's well-proven M100D turbine, developed in partnership with project partner SKF - the world’s leading supplier of rotating equipment. The project builds on the success of Nova's six-turbine Shetland Tidal Array - the world's first offshore tidal array - which was delivered under the H2020 EnFAIT project by a team including SEASTAR partners SKF and Wood. They are joined in SEASTAR by DLA Piper, the leading global law firm in renewable energy, and by specialists in sustainability, insurance, consenting, communication, engineering and offshore operations. SEASTAR will demonstrate for the first time the industrial systems, manufacturing and operational techniques required to efficiently deliver a large tidal farm. It will generate and share transferable knowledge on key consenting risks, de-risking future large arrays globally. And it will improve the bankability of tidal energy by cutting costs, proving performance, and enhancing the insurability of large tidal farms. SEASTAR represents a step change for tidal energy. Volume industrial manufacturing, operation and maintenance techniques will be applied for the first time to the full lifecycle of a tidal farm, from design, procurement, production, shipping, marshalling, deployment, commissioning, operation and decommissioning. The 16-turbine farm provides unique opportunities to address critical environmental evidence gaps and develop the cost-effective, reliable monitoring solutions at scale required to accelerate permitting and remove barriers for future large tidal farms.

**Pool Re for Energy** This project pioneers a new financial architecture around 'insurability' and 'bankability' for critical national infrastructure. Established in 1993 as a reinsurer of last resort for losses due to terrorism, Pool Re was followed by Flood Re in 2016 regarding climate risks. Successful climate mitigation can be accelerated by an 'Energy Re' where collective self-insurance is initially supported by the State. The best risk managers are the asset owners. So rather than try to educate the insurance companies, better to be the insurance company themselves. As well as enhancing energy security, this also saves money for the consumer. **Context** Known as OFTOs, the offshore transmission owners are special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for high voltage transmission infrastructure which includes export cables to shore that are by statute 'unbundled' by the developer of a windfarm before it becomes operational. These are often highly geared assets, where project finance is crucial to the 6 OFTO owning companies that are responsible for the 23 live assets that surround the UK. Approximately 80% of the value of offshore wind claims have come from cabling losses. Of these costs, about 65% are attributed to vessel hire, which can amount to between £100,000 and £200,000 per day. Nearly 40,000km of offshore wind farm export cables are forecast to be laid worldwide by 2030, compared with just over 7,500km at the end of 2020\. **Challenge** An escalating cost of damages in the offshore wind subsea cable sector has led to a hardening insurance market, increasing premiums, and creating more stringent terms. This sellers' market leads in turn to a reduction in 'bankability' which reduces 'investability' since the equity internal rate of return (IRR) is less leveraged by debt. **Solution** Collective self-insurance will enable electrical fault-finding technologies to enhance preventative maintenance of export cables in offshore wind. The current reliance on the need to prove 'physical damage' for the insurance policy to respond means that repair campaigns are often delivered at great expense (i.e. during winter). The ability to intervene at the discretion of a mutual will reduce the cost burden of vessel hire. Collective procurement will allow asset managers to stock cost saving equipment such as universal joints that are currently beyond their means. Information sharing between ordinarily competing organisations will enable the development of best practice. Only through collective self-insurance can these solutions be delivered. And to do so is in the public interest.

Despite London being a key global marketplace for offshore and emerging renewables, insurance is becoming more expensive and less fit for purpose. In order to deliver on its climate objectives, the UK does not have the luxury of waiting for market forces to rebalance. _"The industry insurance market is hardening, it's becoming harder to get the breadth of cover previously available. This is due to the frequency of claims. New models for insurance could be investigated, to help incentivise earlier intervention -- such as a mutual insurance model?"_ * RenewableUK's Cables 2021 Post Show Summary: The subsea cable insurance market Approximately 80% of the value of offshore wind claims have come from cabling losses. Of these costs, about 65% are attributed to vessel hire, which can amount to between £100,000 and £200,000 per day. Nearly 40,000km of offshore wind farm export cables are forecast to be laid worldwide by 2030, compared with just over 7,500km at the end of 2020\. Our application of a hybrid discretionary mutual will stimulate the cascading effect of insurability on bankability to enhance investment through the leveraging effect of risk-averse debt on equity. Only through market-pull, achieved through scale deployment of power generating assets, will emerging technologies cross the 'valley of death' towards commercial readiness. We call this 'The Insurance-Debt Nexus'. The hybrid nature of a hybrid discretionary mutual means that the entity would access reinsurance markets to cover severe or frequent risk events that are outside the members' risk appetites. If the UK Government was reinsurer for the early years, it could withdraw over time as funds build-up and the need for its support is reduced. * Phase 1 will inform customers and financial end users of the benefits, risks and costs of the mutual. * Phase 2 will allow a targeted subset of customers to enter the mutual and reduce the cost of capital. The project is led by Renewable Risk with support from Prospect Law and ORE Catapult: * Renewable Risk is a specialist risk management / insurance claims consultancy and insurance broker with an unparalleled depth of experience of risk mitigation in the renewable energy sector since 2005\. * Prospect Law is a UK based Multi-Disciplinary Practice which combines an SRA regulated law firm with the services of engineers, economists, insurance experts and other professionals. * ORE Catapult is the UK's flagship technology innovation and research centre for advancing wind, wave, and tidal energy.