A fresh newsletter from the ENCORE project, with updates from our technology developers, a throwback to interesting events and an invitation to upcoming events and workshops. Enjoy reading this newsletter! 

Pilot projects in the picture!

In the past months, Oceans of Energy have been working hard to deploy their 1MW scale offshore solar farm in front of the Dutch coast. Their efforts to help realise the energy transition at sea generated awareness and attention from various media and official bodies.

None other than His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands paid a working visit to various locations in the North Sea to witness the energy transition. The visit included a stop at the North Sea Farmers Offshore Test Site (OTS), where the floating offshore solar panels of OoE are being tested and derisked. Also Dutch broadcasting association VPRO visited the solar farm together with Oceans of Energy CEO Allard Van Hoeken. Watch the documentary on the VPRO website (in Dutch).

French partner EEL Energy concluded a campaign of open sea tow-testing near Rade de Brest/Pointe des Espagnols (Brittany, France), including a power assessment. With current speeds up to 1,5m/s, the EEL installation delivered up to +/- 15kW of power. Meanwhile, EEL Energy is also working on two new devices for river applications. A video of the last open sea test before the barge was brought back to Brest can be found on YouTube.

Water2Energy have worked hard on increasing performance of their tidal energy turbine in the port of Vlissingen (NL). The pitch control system has been improved and shaft power increased from 35kW to 50kW. In December/January the turbine will be removed for inspection and maintenance.

Teamwork Technology have planned additional dry-tests together with their partner Multimetaal. The roll-membrane for Symphony Wave Power was delivered, and production drawings for the pressurized tanks were approved.

Looking back at a successful ICOE/OEE in San Sebastian

From 18 till 20 October, ICOE and Ocean Energy Europe joined forces to host this year's edition of their leading global ocean energy event in Basque country, Spain. ENCORE was well represented by lead partner Bluespring and DMEC.

During a session moderated by The Hague Business Agency, Peter Scheijgrond (Bluespring) talked about how to help policymakers to support marine energy projects and how Adaptive Policy Interventions create a route-to-market for offshore renewable energy innovations.

Anton Schaap (DMEC) elaborated on the results of the ENCORE project and presented on Marine Energy IEC standards, while his colleage Hinne van der Zant shared insights in the multi-use offshore renewable energy potential in the region of the Dutch Wadden Islands.

During the prestigious ICOE-OEE gala dinner, Britta Schaffmeister, CEO of the Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC), was awarded with the 2022 Vi Maris Award, as a recognition for her outstanding contribution to the ocean energy sector. Vi Maris, meaning ‘the power of the sea’, is an industry award established by Ocean Energy Europe (OEE), which recognises the outstanding contribution of an individual to the ocean energy sector.

At the end of the event in Spain, the organiser announced that Ocean Energy Europe's Conference & Exhibition 2023 will take place in The Hague, co-hosted by DMEC!

European Committee of the Regions visits Zeeland

On Friday 16 September, the European Committee of the Regions Commission for Environment, Climate change and Energy organised a study visit to the Oosterschelde National Park and Deltapark Neeltje Jans in Zeeland, The Netherlands.

During the event, ENCORE lead partner Bluespring joined the academic & interactive discussion on the challenges and opportunities of sea level rise. Peter Scheijgrond presented the opportunities and possibilities for energy from water, such as the innovations developed by ENCORE technology developers.

The interesting day was concluded by a visit to Aqua Valley and the Oosterscheldt storm surge barrier.

ENCORE joins eMSP Community of Practice on offshore renewable energy

On Wednesday 30th November, ENCORE partners will join the eMSP-NBSR Community of Practice in The Hague (NL). The eMSP-NBSR project brings together national and regional authorities responsible for marine spatial planning, research organisations and intergovernmental cooperations from North and Baltic Sea Regions. The CoP meeting in The Hague will be dedicated to offshore renewable energy production with a focus on synergies with offshore wind farms.

During this meeting, ENCORE partners Bluespring and Ghent University will host a cross-border workshop to share final results of the project and to present our pilots for offshore renewable energy; floating solar, wave energy and tidal energy. In addition we will take part in a panel discussion on offshore renewable energy, multi-use and the route-to-market.

At the end of the day, we will demonstrate the elearning courses developed by Deftiq. More information can be found on the eMSP-NBSR project website.

ENCORE at OEEC2022
in Amsterdam

The Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference is where the energy transition takes place. It is Europe’s leading event for the entire offshore energy industry and an opportunity to reach business leaders, highly qualified experts and professionals across global markets. This year's edition will take place on 29 & 30 November in Amsterdam.

ENCORE partners will join the event to present and discuss main results and learnings from the project in a number of sessions.

On Tuesday 29 November at 11:30 and 15:30, Bluespring will host a roundtable session to discuss the impact of EU policy & funding in reaching the EU Offshore Renewable Energy Targets. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) is reviewing the effectiveness of EU Policy and instruments. As part of this work, ECA is looking for feedback and recommendations from the industry on executing EU policy and EU-funded projects, which aim to contribute to those targets. Do you have an interest to help shape future policies for the offshore renewable sector? Are you involved in EU-funded projects, especially in wave, tidal, salinity gradient energy, floating offshore solar, and multi-use in offshore wind farms? Join our session here!
 

At the Marine Energy Pavilion hosted by Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC), you are welcome to learn about innovative marine energy solutions. There will be lots of activities to discuss collaboration between the marine energy and the offshore and supply chain industries, such as discussion tables and marine energy contributions to talk shows. You can even experience marine energy solutions in virtual reality.

On Tuesday 29 November from 14.30 till 15.45, the Marine Energy Session "Scaling-up Marine Energy" takes place. As a diverse and secure energy supply is more important than ever, the time to implement the EU’s strategy on marine renewable energy is now. Join the Marine Energy Session to follow the latest marine energy deployments and to explore opportunities to scale-up these ambitious projects from a business, policy and technological perspective. Confirmed speakers include Anders Jansson (CorPower Ocean), Raphael Sauter (European Commission), Tom Berendsen (European Parliament), Sue Barr (Simply Blue Group), Britta Schaffmeister (Dutch Marine Energy Centre) and Yuki Esser (Dutch Marine Energy Centre).

Water2Energy will be showing their latest updates in the Exhibition, at the stand of Schouten Engineering & Design (stand 1.442), on both days.

For more information and registration, please visit the Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference website.

Upcoming events

Interested in offshore renewable energy? Check out the full event calendar on our homepage for more information about upcoming events in the ORE sector.