On Monday 22nd May, EWA members met at The RDM Campus in Rotterdam for their annual members' meeting.
AquaLab was our host; an impressive facility that is part of the Rotterdam Hogeschool, comprising a wave basin and two wave flumes. Jan Scholtens en Willem Semp treated us with an informative tour and demonstration of the wave tank. Several students tested wave energy devices in the past and Kolkracht BV is currently testing a novel vortex low-head hydro turbine with a group of students.
Left to right: Peter Scheijgrond, Cas van de Voort, Paul Munster, Gerard Manshanden, Sten Swanenberg, Frank van Bodegraven, Dolf Pasman. Below: Pieter de Haas, Erwin Meijboom, Hein Pols, Luc Hogervorst, Lucas Nijman, Maarten Berkhout.
EWA membership is growing steadily. We welcomed new members Ocean Grazer, Equinox, AE Wavehexapod, GHyGA, inventor Hein and Buccaneer Delft!
The overview of achievements was received with applause. The EWA board worked consistently to improve the visibility of our sector. Social media, newsletters, in-depth interviews, participation in events, and responding to public consultations to name a few. Furthermore, the board intensified contact and knowledge sharing with the government, strategic partners, and other stakeholders. This catalyzed, directly and indirectly, a number of high-quality studies, notably on the Integration of wave and solar energy near offshore windfarms by Invest-NL, two studies by TNO on the complementarity of wave and wind resources on the North Sea and solutions for the Wadden Island (both ongoing), and the IEA-OES Country report. EWA aligned input from members, acted as a voice on behalf of the sector, and coordinated reviews.
In the second part of the meeting, we split into smaller groups to have discussions around the themes of Policy, Export, Feed-In tariffs, and Supply Chain. It was emphasized that there are major opportunities for the sector globally. To unlock this opportunity, we need to align end-user needs with the capabilities of supply chain companies. Furthermore, EWA can play a role in putting forward an equitable feed-in tariff that considers the integral system cost.
Finally, the new knowledge-sharing platform on the EWA website was launched, together with Members-only resources. Members can share (public) reports, access information about test facilities and funding opportunities, and check the events calendar.
The day was wrapped up with drinks, bites, and more discussions! Thanks to the participants for all the good energy!
Members can login (see top right corner) to access the minutes of the meeting in our Knowledge Bank (Kennisbank). Please first create a profile, using your membership email account.