Facing COVID-19: the startup looking to ‘transform’ renewables post-COVID with remote tech

A North East startup is on a mission to ‘transform’ the renewable energy and utilities sectors with its social distancing safety technology.

Origin Tech, which is based in Newcastle, has fast-tracked the development of a remote and autonomous inspection vehicle to be used on offshore wind farms despite the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

Founded in 2019 by entrepreneurs Phil Surtees, Steve McKenny and John Marsden, Origin Tech specialises in developing a range of technologies designed to gather intelligence to inform integrity management decisions across a range of sectors including, oil and gas, renewables, process and utilities.

The firm hopes that the development of its remote technology will meet a growing demand for sustainable energy post COVID-19 as well as supporting the region, following the announcement of a new offshore wind base at Port of Tyne.

Origin Tech co-founder John Marsden commented: “Despite lockdown, implementing social distancing has enabled Origin Tech to progress with developing its solutions in a safe manner.

“Our solutions - suitable for a range of sectors – are designed to significantly reduce the number of operators to perform the same task, meeting the challenge of COVID-driven change.

“As operators look to streamline operations, minimise risk to staff and implement robust social distancing measures, now is the right time to launch our solution in response to COVID-driven change and which we will be doing in the coming months.”