Ocean Grazer goes to sea!

Oranje Wind Power II wins permit for new windpark, including the Ocean Battery

Oranje Wind Power II, a subsidiary of RWE, wins the permit for the construction and exploitation of the new windpark ‘Dutch Coast (west)’ lot VII. Lot VII is one of the two lots in the windpark. The windpark will be good for about 6% of the current electricity usage in The Netherlands. The winning innovative system integration concept includes the Ocean Battery from Ocean Grazer, balancing the power grid and facilitating the production of green hydrogen. We would like to congratulate Frits Bliek, Max Duursma and the entire team of Ocean Grazer!

System integration

In addition to electricity production, the government has challenged parties to come up with solutions for properly integrating all generated electricity into the Dutch energy system. This means, among other things, that – when more electricity is generated when there is a lot of wind than is needed at that moment – this is given a destination. Oranje Wind Power II has various plans for this, including 600 MW of onshore electrolysers (producing green hydrogen), 225 MW of e-boilers for district heating and industrial applications, batteries and floating solar energy at sea.

Ambitions 2030

All planned offshore wind farms together will provide approximately 75% of the current electricity needs by 2030. The cabinet has raised the ambition for offshore wind energy to 21 GW by 2030. Currently, approximately 2.5 GW offshore wind energy has been fully commissioned and a number of wind farms are under construction or have been granted a permit. The next wind farm to be licensed is IJmuiden Ver (4 GW). The Roadmap for Wind Energy at Sea 2030 describes how and when the designated wind energy areas will be developed into wind farms for the period 2024 – 2030.

The announcement of the winner of the permit for Hollandse Kust (west) plot VI is planned for Thursday 15 December 2022 at the latest. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) supervised the tender on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.

Ocean Battery

The Ocean Battery is a scalable, modular system, placed on the bottom of the ocean near renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and solar farms. The system contains a reservoir filled with water placed on the seabed. In order to store energy, the Ocean Battery pumps water out of the reservoir, working against the pressure exerted by the sea. When there is demand for power, water flows back to the reservoirs, triggering multiple hydro turbines to generate electricity. The Ocean Battery is an efficient and sustainable way to store energy right at the production site. As no scarce materials are needed for the production of the battery, the system is ecologically sound, also forming a habitat on the ocean floor using its structure.

Source: Rijksoverheid