Xodus Group, Cathie Associates and UTEC Geomarine will deliver a study as part of the UK Carbon Trust's offshore wind accelerator programme which has the aim of reducing the cost of offshore wind by 10% by 2015.
Much of the high costs currently associated with offshore wind are related to the installation and burial of power cables.
As such the consortium will look at ways to improve the methods and equipment used when laying the export and array cables in order to bring costs down.
The companies will work together to look at present survey methodologies to review whether they are suitable and review whether the equipment is appropriately specified and fit for purpose.
They will look at the approach to mitigating risk to the cable and develop a more comprehensive methodology more suited to new technology.
Findings from the research will then be theoretically applied to a UK Round 3 project in order to perform a cost-benefit analysis.
The consortium said that the findings will be communicated to the industry as a whole at a "key renewable energy conferences" once the report is completed in June.
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