Consortium Aims for EUR 0.07 per kWh by 2030
A consortium of sixteen Dutch companies and research institutes will launch an innovation program for offshore wind; Growth through Research, development and demonstration in Offshore Wind (GROW). The plan for the program will be presented to Minister Kamp at the Wind Days 2016 congress in Rotterdam.GROW will contribute to the Netherlands’ goals for a renewable and independent energy supply. Over the next five years, GROW will help introduce innovations to the market thus further strengthening the Dutch offshore wind sector, leading to significant growth in knowledge-intensive employment. It will spend at least EUR 100 million on research, development and demonstration projects over the next five years.The founders of GROW are Delft Offshore Turbine, Deltares, ECN, Eneco, Lagerwey, LM Wind Power, Royal IHC, RWE, Seaway Heavy Lifting, Shell, Sif, TenneT, TNO, TU Delft, Van Oord, and Volker Stevin International.
The mission of the program is twenty for seven; the consortium of around twenty organizations in the Dutch offshore wind sector will contribute to cost reductions to reach a cost of EUR 0.07 per kWh by 2030. At this cost level, offshore wind will compete with other renewable and fossil energy sources – without having to be subsidised.
The program will pursue technical innovations that bring the cost of offshore wind further down and contribute to the reliability and stability of the entire energy system. It will also improve symbiosis with other sectors at sea (oil & gas, fishery, shipping and tourism) and will research and further limit the environmental effects of offshore wind.
GROW is the successor of the Far and Large Offshore Wind (FLOW) research program. Over the last five years, the thirteen Dutch companies and research institutes of FLOW brought the costs of offshore wind down by 20%, and supported several innovations in reaching the market. Tomorrow during the Wind Days 2016 congress, the program’s completion will be commemorated with a book presented to Minister Kamp, which includes a selection of FLOW’s results.
GROW will work closely together with the TKI Wind op Zee. The consortium is currently in discussions with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Topsector Energy to explore options for government support and cooperation. GROW’s first projects are expected to commence in the fall of 2016.