Source: EU SCORES Project
Introduction
The demonstrations in EU-SCORES aim to showcase the benefits of continuous power output by harnessing complimentary power sources including wind, sun and waves. This hybrid approach will create a more resilient and stable power system, higher capacity factors and a lower total cost per MWh. Major project developers and utility companies further strengthen the demonstration efforts, paving the way for future large-scale commercialisation of these innovative parks.
Deployment 1: A 2.6 MW grid-connected offshore solar system by Oceans of Energy is going to be installed 2 km off the Belgian coast at the Blue Accelerator test site close to a bottom-fixed Parkwind wind farm. The demonstration will focus on the complementary production profile of offshore solar to wind parks, the electrical integration in existing infrastructure and the survivability of such a large floating structure.
Deployment 2: A 1.2 MW wave energy array consisting of 4 wave energy converters from CorPower Ocean will be deployed and grid connected at the Aguçadoura test site in Portugal. The production profile will be compared to OceanWinds’ offshore floating wind farm WindFloatAtlantic.
The full-scale demonstrations are intended to prove how the increased power output and capacity installed per km2 will reduce the amount of marine space needed, thereby leaving more space for aquaculture, fisheries, shipping routes and environmentally protected zones. Additional benefits achieved by co-using critical electrical infrastructures and exploring advanced operation and maintenance methodologies supported by innovative autonomous systems should lower the costs per MWh. Moreover, the project demonstrations will support the stability and resilience of the European energy system, while considering sustainability, local stakeholders and existing ecosystems.
To enable large-scale multi-source parks in the near future, all necessary aspects of their implementation are taken into consideration during the EU-SCORES project. The technical de-risking investigates the layout, mooring, electrical infrastructure, environmental monitoring, autonomous robotic inspections & lessons learned during two large-scale deployments. The financial de-risking provides business cases, including green hydrogen production, for several regions & learning rate-based cost reductions of wave- & offshore solar energy. The regulatory de-risking evaluates current regulations, provides policy recommendations & engages with relevant stakeholders.
The EU-SCORES project is coordinated by Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC) and the partners are Provinciale Ontwikkelingsmaatschapij West-Vlaanderen (POM-WVL), Lappeenrannan-Lahden Teknillinen Yliopisto LUT (LUT), INNOSEA Aqualisbaemar LOC (INNOSEA), RWE Renewables GmbH (RWE), Exceedence Ltd. (Exceedence), Western Star Wave Limited (SBE), Enel Green Power SPA (EGP), RINA Consulting SPA (RINA-C), Oceans of Energy (OOE), Technische Universiteit Delft (TU Delft), SBM Schiedam BV (SBM), Labelec - Estudios, Desenvolvimento e Actividades Laboratorials SA (EDP LABELEC), Instituto de Engenhariade Sistemas e Computadores, Teconologia e Ciencia (INESC TEC), WAVEC Offshore Renewables (WAVEC), CorPower Ocean AB (CPO) and Uppsala University (UU).
Fundings: this MU case study is funded via an Horizon 2020 Green Deal project
Stakeholder engagement is of crucial importance in reaching the main objective of the EU-SCORES project: unlocking the large-scale roll-out of scalable and cost-efficient offshore renewable energy in multi-source parks across different European sea basins. Three major stakeholder events across three EU countries form the basis of the project’s stakeholder engagement activities. During these events, policymakers, research institutes, offshore companies, grid providers, innovators, local communities and others have the opportunity to exchange on opportunities, concerns, and win-win situations of multi-source parks.
Aside from the stakeholder events, one-on-one consultations with different national governments enable the exchange of insights relevant for achieving bankable multi-source parks. This happens throughout the project, often starting with raising awareness and subsequently providing science-based information in the form of advisory documents.
Next to engaging with the stakeholder groups, the activities also contribute to the overall communication objectives of the EU-SCORES project:
- Raising awareness on combining offshore wind with offshore solar PV and wave energy in multi-source energy parks
- Disseminating the benefits of continuous power output by harnessing complementary power sources including wind, sun and waves
- Motivating & leading project partners and stakeholders to successfully reach the project objectives
The regulatory frameworks for multi-source parks still vary across the different EU countries. As part of the project, advisory documents for policy makers share best practices and policy recommendations. These focus on improved marine spatial planning, permitting and financial instruments needed to accelerate the cost-effective roll-out of multi-source parks.
Lessons learnt
The key results from the EU-SCORES project further substantiate that multi-source energy parks will use offshore space more efficiently and balance the electricity grid. Due to the complementarity of the different renewable energy sources combined in multi-source parks, these parks can provide electricity more constantly than wind-only parks and use the electrical infrastructure offshore more effectively. As such, they contribute to achieving a resilient and cost-effective 100% renewable energy system.
Relevant links
Oceans of Energy launches floating solar farm in Belgium (press article)
CorPower to redeploy its first commercial-scale WEC following on-land upgrades (Video)
Contacts
Sarah Kluge (DMEC) : sarah [at] dutchmarineenergy.com (sarah[at]dutchmarineenergy[dot]com)
Sander des Tombe: sander [at] dutchmarineenergy.com (sander[at]dutchmarineenergy[dot]com)