Atlas News

Eight partnerships have been selected as Robotics Adoption Hubs under a £40 million programme to help businesses and public services deploy robotics. They include the SHARP surgical robotics hub, Lincoln’s HARVEST agri-food hub and hubs serving manufacturing, waste and recycling, and robotics in public spaces. Support will include feasibility work, demonstrations, training and advice on choosing and integrating equipment. The announcement allocates support to named partnerships; the hoped-for gains in productivity and patient recovery remain outcomes to be demonstrated.

The government granted a Development Consent Order for a solar scheme of up to 500 MW, with energy storage and grid-connection infrastructure, across Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes.

UK-headquartered Universal Quantum has secured over US$100 million in a Series A round co-led by DCVC and Firgun Ventures. The funding will support development and commercialisation of its modular quantum-computing systems and international expansion.

Forty-nine of Dogger Bank B’s 95 wind turbines have been installed, according to the project’s weekly marine notice for 5–11 October. Construction continues on the offshore wind farm; the installation count does not establish that those turbines are commissioned or generating electricity.

Pulpex opened its first commercial fibre-bottle manufacturing facility at Westway near Glasgow Airport on 8 October. The plant has initial capacity of up to 40 million bottles a year and has created approximately 39 manufacturing jobs. Its billion-unit ambition concerns future global expansion, not delivered capacity at this site.

Liverpool Bay CCS completed installation of the Douglas CCS platform on 8 October. The purpose-built hub will receive captured industrial CO2 and distribute it to depleted offshore reservoirs through repurposed pipelines. Eni reports the wider network is approximately 50% complete; installation does not establish that CO2 storage is operating.