North Sea Energy is een publiek-privaat onderzoeksprogramma. In het programma werken ca. 40 internationale partijen uit de energiewaardeketen samen. Deze partijen zijn actief op en rondom de Noordzee. Het programma is in 2017 gestart en onderzoekt de potentie van de Noordzee voor een geïntegreerd energiesysteem. Het programma is intussen in haar 5e fase beland met een looptijd tot medio 2025. TKI Nieuw Gas | Topsector Energie ondersteunt het project dat een omvang heeft van ca. € 6 miljoen met een bijdrage uit haar PPS-toeslag van ca. € 3,6 miljoen. De resultaten van de voorgaande fasen zijn op de website terug te vinden: www.north-sea-energy.eu.
Het North Sea Energy programma bestaat uit verschillende onderzoeksprojecten. Naast onderzoek initiëren wij ook pilots en projecten om innovatieve concepten te testen en in de praktijk te testen. Een voorbeeld hiervan is het PosHYdon-project. North Sea Energy werkt over de grenzen van sectoren heen en zoekt verbinding met partijen die actief zijn op de Noordzee. Partijen zoals visserij, defensie en scheepvaart. Ook heeft de Noordzee een belangrijke ecologische waarde. Dit stemmen wij af met de andere Noordzeelanden. Centraal in het programma staat een integrale aanpak van het offshore energieportfolio. Eerdere onderzoeken van North Sea Energy laten zien dat voordelen te behalen zijn als we de verschillende energiefuncties, zoals de productie van wind, waterstof en aardgas, slim koppelen. Deze slimme koppelingen zorgen voor CO2-reductie, kostenbesparing, effectief gebruik van de ruimte op zee én een versnelling van de energietransitie. Met goede samenwerking en coördinatie verzilveren we kansen en zetten we de Noordzee op de kaart als voorbeeldregio voor de Europese energietransitie.
De 5e fase van het onderzoeksprogramma wordt hieronder nader toegelicht (toelichting in Engels).
Background and challenge:
The North Sea will be a pivot in accelerating the energy transition towards the targets of the Paris climate agreement to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global temperature increase. The North Sea as secure source of affordable energy is most wanted given the current energy challenges that Europe is facing. At the North Sea a considerable role is foreseen for the deployment of offshore wind and implementing carbon capture and storage. Without these options accelerated growth of a low-carbon and sustainable energy supply and industry is difficult and costly to achieve. The foreseen strong build-up of offshore wind in the next decades comes with several challenges such as required cost reduction, reducing North Sea spatial claim by multi-use and synergy with other use functions. Managing, transporting and integrating energy in the energy system at acceptable system cost for society and with high energy security is another important challenge. The build-up of offshore renewable assets in the form of wind and floating solar, the need for CO2 transport and storage infrastructure on the one hand and the decline of gas assets on the other hand, offers an opportunity; System integration between these may be of added value to accelerate the energy transition at the North Sea.
Aim of the project:
This innovation project contributes to identifying and developing opportunities and innovations. The main aim of the program is to develop strategies and perspectives on the North Sea Energy transition to harness synergies between offshore wind, marine energy, carbon capture & storage, natural gas and hydrogen developments while strengthening the carrying capacity of our economy, society and nature. In this (fifth) phase of the program we build further upon the NSE1-4 results. The central pillar of this phase of the program is design of Offshore Energy System blueprints towards 2050 for offshore hubs in the North Sea. The consortium will further develop the design of the three offshore hubs (west, east and north) that are defined in NSE4 and will improve the design of these hubs relating to all relevant perspectives: technical, environmental, ecological, societal, legal, regulatory and economic feasibility.
Short description of activities & results:
Technical innovation for offshore energy technologies - Execute technical innovation assessments with focus on detailed assessment of offshore H2 production concepts (central and decentral) and offshore energy storage (hydrogen and electricity) options. In addition the consortium will develop and online and public repository of offshore energy technologies with their key techno-economic performance indicators.
Nature & societal inclusive design principles - Develop guidelines for nature and societal inclusive building at sea for new offshore concepts and apply these design principles to the internationally interconnected NSE hubs. Very important supply chain bottlenecks related to raw materials and human capital challenges will be identified to support sustainable offshore energy transition scenario development.
Knowledge Consortium & Exchange - Provide a platform for (international) knowledge, experience, data and scenarios sharing of new insights and knowledge developments on offshore energy transition and system integration. Knowledge exchange is foreseen with existing Pilots and Demonstrations projects and for (RD&D) programmes under development or with very relevant expertise build up in the context of the NSE topics (PosHYdon, Oceans of Energy, H2opZee, Porthos, Aramis, NSWPH, Aquanventus, HyValue TrilaWatt, HyUsPre, SINERGY, Offshore hydrogen roundtable etc.)
Innovative Concept & Planning offshore - Support (international) policy and decision makers with innovative concepts and adaptive planning perspectives for offshore system integration in hub based approach. This also includes energy system assessments and associated economics on various levels (asset, hub, country, regional) to understand the impact of offshore hubs on system dynamics and to build innovative business models to get mobilize investments in the public and private sector.
Offshore Energy System blueprints towards 2050 - A key innovation and central element in this phase of the program is the step-up from a North Sea Energy Atlas towards the development of an open access IT toolbox that allows for a blueprint for offshore system design, including planning, simulation and optimization. An important element in all work packages is the participatory process, knowledge sharing and knowledge brokerage. Consortium and external stakeholders will be involved through participation in workshops and alignment meetings to facilitate knowledge sharing, awareness and co-creation of the program deliverables.
More info: www.North-Sea-Energy.eu