By Peter Scheijgrond, Bluespring
The Oceanovation Festival, held on the 19th and 20th of June at the Fokker Terminal in The Hague, was a great gathering of ocean enthusiasts, innovators, policymakers, and investors from across the globe. This event is unique for the mix of attendees you meet, all sharing a passion for the ocean—whether it be conservation, aquaculture, shipping, or energy. A huge compliment goes to Rick Wall and his team for pulling this off for the second time in The Hague!
Many EWA members participated in the festival, showcasing their innovative projects and sharing their expertise. Companies like SeaQurrent, Slowmill, Water2Energy, and REDstack had stands and delivered pitches. Also present were the WECO team, Dutch Wave Power, and Equinox, all contributing to the vibrant exchange of ideas. Peter Scheijgrond, of Bluespring and Chairman of EWA, played a visible role by moderating two sessions focused on ocean energy.
Next-gen ocean energy technologies
The day began with a session with leading ocean energy developers:
🌘 Brendan Cahill of ORPC
The main takeaway from this session was that each presented technology is at a high Technology Readiness Level (TRL 6/7), having been extensively proven in niche applications. These technologies are now ready for scaling up, provided they receive support from strategic investors. The speakers emphasized the importance of collaboration and the need for robust investment to transition from demonstration to full-scale deployment.
Investment perspectives
Following this, a session on investment perspectives in ocean energy provided valuable insights. Mevin Kistnassamy of Blue Pelican Capital explained that his appetite to invest depends on a clear path for de-risking, scalable solutions, and the involvement of large offshore engineering companies to deliver their projects and absorb risks. Andrew Smith of Greenbackers Investment Capital emphasized the importance of creating business cases that can work now, focusing more on the value of the service than the cost of electricity. He also underscored the continued need for public funding to de-risk investments. Michael White of Planet Ocean Fund discussed looking further into the future at the possibilities Blue Bonds may offer to finance ocean energy projects.
Masterclass on Multi-use
In the afternoon Campus@Sea moderated a Master Class on multi-use at sea with experts from the Offshore For Sure project. In different groups, participants made a SWOT analysis for the four cases.
Lotte Holvast of Oceans of Energy presented a case for offshore solar integrated at a large scale with offshore wind farms. Daniel Baldacchino of FLASC B.V. explained how energy storage at offshore wind farms can improve the business case, with only a small amount of storage. The group working with Sten Swanenberg of Dutch Wave Power looked at a row of wave energy converters installed at the most exposed side of an offshore wind farm. Reinier Rijke of Water2Energy illustrated a case for tidal turbines in the Brouwersdam, adding predictable baseload power to wind turbines while improving water quality at the Lake Grevelingen.
The Oceanovation Festival 2024 was a testament to the growing interest and advancements in ocean-related sectors. EWA members' active participation and the sessions moderated by Bluespring and Campus@Sea highlighted the progress and potential of ocean energy and multi-use projects at sea. The festival created many new connections and showed the innovative spirit driving the future of ocean energy solutions.
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