LIVE BLOG: Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference 2022

18:00 It’s a wrap

Thanks to all participants, partners, sponsors and media partners for making this event such a great success! See you next year on 28 & 29 November 2023!

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17:30 Drinks at Navingo stand

Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference is almost coming to an end. The best way to celebrate these two days is with drinks at the Navingo stand.

16:15 Highlights from the exhibition floor

OEEC 2022 is up and running for a second day and the exhibition floor is still a lively place to be.

There are a lot of interesting stands and companies, and we are sharing only a few photos to bring the OEEC exhibition closer to those tuning in into our Live Blog.

15:30 Future-proof – Conference Area

The final conference session of this year’s OEEC is underway, with a discussion on how to be future-proof in a fast changing world.

Moderated by Jaap Proost, Editor-in Chief at Navingo, the session gathered speakers: Marjolein Kelder, The Rich North Sea; Sharon Becker, Impact Hydrogen; and John Hoksbergen, Applied Risk.

“To reduce risks and the overall impact on the environment, we need to be careful when selecting new areas for the development of offshore wind, taking in consideration natural habitats of different species and other factors”, said Marjolein Kelder from The Rich North Sea.

According to Sharon Becker from Impact Hydrogen, hydrogen has the opportunity to organise the energy sources and provide a sustainable hydrogen-based value chain for local needs and opportunities of many communities.

Reporter on the floor

Coco Kossman interviewed Yuki Esser from the Dutch Marin Energy Centre (DMEC) on the second day of OEEC 2022.

Esser pointed out the growing interest of the wider offshore energy sector in the marine energy, and said: “We really believe that in order to meet our energy goals, we need all renewable energy sources, with marine energy included. Only by combining this, and having a diverse energy mix, we can actually meet our sustainability goals.”

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13:30 The Executive Outlook

The conference session The Executive Outlook at OEEC kicked-off with the following participants: Adam Middleton, Managing Director The Netherlands & VP for Western Europe at Siemens Energy; Manon van Beek, CEO at Tennet; and Han Fennema, CEO at Gasunie.

Middleton said the policy talk should have been over by now, emphasizing the need to industrialize the energy transition, calling also for the greater collaboration than ever before to find appropriate technical and logistical solutions, that are designed to be ecologically sound at the same time.

Highlighting the importance of offshore energy developments in the North Sea, Middleton said: “I believe the offshore industry will be the key to unlocking energy transition in Europe. If we decarbonise the North Sea, we can decarbonise the world”.

Manon van Beek from TenneT reiterated Middleton’s view that everyone should work together, adding that in such a way, the industry can better tackle common challenges.

In the context of bigger offshore wind farms, turbines and TenneT’s offshore grid connections, which will soon be at 2GW each, Van Beek added: “We have to scale up, because the size indeed matters”.

The importance of hydrogen echoed once again in this session with Gasunie’s Fennema saying: “Hydrogen is going to be one of the energy carriers of the future”.

Young IRO Pub Quiz

Join Young IRO on The Stage at 15:00 with a chance to win…

Hydrogen in the spotlight – Hydrogen Perspectives

Get inspired by the latest hydrogen developments and innovations from the Hydrogen Area at the exhibition floor.

Hydrogen Perspectives were provided from Lise van der Plank, Event Director at TU Delft Hydro Motion; Amber Peters, Team Manager at Green Team Twente and Abel van Beest, Team Manager at Forze Hydrogen Racing.

During the presentation, Abel van Beest noted that the infrastructure for hydrogen is not there yet and that companies and governments still need to step up their game.

International delegations at OEEC 2022 and RVO’s roundatbles

We are happy to welcome a lot of international companies and representatives, from exhibitors, conference attendees and event visitors.

Among those visiting OEEC in Amsterdam is also a delegation from Uruguay’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining, Uruguay XXI, ANCAP, UTE and Represa de Salto Grande.

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) is organizing several roundtables during OEEC, including those focused on offshore wind and hydrogen markets in Latin America, namely Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay.

12:30 Young Perspectives – The Stage

“We are the ambassadors of the energy transition; our goal is to commit to energy transition and inspire others”, Sibel Gökbekir, Complex Systems Eng. & Management Student, TU Delft, said at the Young Perspectives talk at OEEC 2022.

Monty Schebesta, Energy Science Student, Utrecht University, says the energy transition is not going as fast as it should and that both industry and government need to step up.

“Our generation is needing this, a lot of them are not aware, but more people are getting aboard”, Monty Schebesta said.

10.00 Marine Energy Pavilion – Bridging the gap between technology development and funding

Where is the gap for most developers and how to finance innovation is a question a session at OEEC’s Marine Energy Pavilion sought an answer to, under the guidance of Andrew Smith from DejaBlue Consulting.

The session featured a series of presentations on the related services, what funders and investors are looking for, experiences shared by some of the Marine Energy Alliance (MEA) companies were shared, that were followed by an interesting panel session, wrapped up with a very active Q&A session from the audience.

Smith pointed out the importance of investment funds, and choosing the appropriate one for marine energy developers, when they apply for subsidies that could help scale-up their technologies and projects.

Some of the speakers during the session and the panel included Ray Alcorn from Exceedence, Polina Vasilenko from HelioRec, and Fred Gardner from Teamwork Technology.

11:45 Market Updates – The Stage

Jan Vos, Chairman of the Board at the Netherlands Wind Energy Association (NWEA) is now at The Stage at OEEC 2022, where the Market Updates talks are underway.

The main problem right now is that the climate, energy, and ecology crisis are all happening at the same time, Vos highlighted.

11:45 Connecting and matchmaking!

Yesterday the matchmaking was a big success. Lots of great connections were made on the exhibition floor. Today, as well, plenty of interesting topics related to offshore energy are planned. Check the 1-on-1 meetings and roundtables and join them today!

10:00 Marine Energy Alliance Talks – The Stage

“Once we scale up our wave energy technology successfully up to 2MW, we will be able to cost-effectively replace diesel generators used by island communities”, Jeff Lee from INGINE Wave Energy Systems, a developer of an onshore wave energy converter, said in a Marine Energy Alliance talk at The Stage on Day 2 of OEEC 2022.

Jan Skoldhammer (NoviOcean), Polina Vasilenko (Heliorec) and Fred Gardner (Symphony Wave Power) have also presented their solutions in the marine energy sector.

Skoldhammer focused on the company’s innovative wave energy converter, and potential of the technology to be combined with floating solar panels on board for more efficient and cost effective hybrid solution.

HelioRec’s Vasilenko talked about several benefits offshore floating solar brings to the table – like saving scarce land by using solar panels offshore, and also the positive effect the water has on the technology itself as it provides cooling effect for the panels.

“We already started generating revenue, using our floating solar system with the clients from Europe, which in the short term remains our focus market,” Vasilenko said.

Gardner presented the submerged type of wave energy-generating technology from Symophony Wave Power, and its potential and benefits. He pointed out the importance of engagement with the wider offshore energy sector to maximize the benefits.

“It’s all about markets and finding the right partners. The North Sea remains our initial focus, and we are already in talks with offshore wind developers in the area offshore the Netherlands”, Gardner said.

10:00 Opportunities in Offshore Wind – Conference Area

The conference program of Day 2 of Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference kicked off with the session Opportunities in Offshore Wind.

In the session, Renske Ytsma, RWE Renewables; Arnoud Kuis, Van Oord; Mark Couwenberg, Damen Shipyards; and Wilfried Vandersippe, Total Energies are discussing the challenges, from aligning the supply chains to grid capacity and the need for qualified personnel to create future wind parks.

During the next hour, the panelists will address both the ins and outs of the European offshore wind industry, regulations and supply chain, as well as the offshore wind industry globally and the European supply chain’s role in offshore wind projects worldwide.  

09:00 Masterclass on green hydrogen from the Government of the Netherlands

The Government of the Netherlands is present during the second day of Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference, as well, where today the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) is hosting an exclusive masterclass on green hydrogen for international government delegations and invited businesses.

Welcome to the Live Blog! Day 2 of Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference kicks off

The second day of OEEC 2022 in Amsterdam is starting and, same as on Day 1 of the event, you can tune into the Live Blog for updates from the conference, The Stage, and the exhibition floor throughout the day.

Cheers! See you tomorrow.

Navingo is hosting official networking drinks, sponsored by Jack-Up Barge, starting at 18:00. Drop by until 21:00 to wrap up the first OEEC 2022 day with us, before we start another energetic day at RAI Amsterdam.

Marine Energy Pavilion at OEEC

Following the conference session dedicated to this emerging clean energy-generating industry, the marine energy community present at OEEC 2022 is wrapping up the first day with the drinks at Marine Energy Pavilion, still welcoming all those from the offshore energy industry present at the event.

ELA Container boosts ‘the lifesaver of the Dutch seas’

ELA Container has supported the efforts of the Royal Dutch Rescue Society (KNRM), often referred to as ‘the lifesaver of the Dutch seas’, by granting the organization a discount of €15,000 including an extra sponsorship contribution of €10,000, to give the project an additional boost.

“We are extremely proud to support the Royal Dutch Rescue Society (KNRM), ‘the lifesaver of the Dutch seas by supplying a special drying room container to store and dry the KNRM survival suits for the volunteers of Terschelling Rescue Station.

“The KNRM receives no government subsidy and is supported entirely by volunteer contributions. For that reason we felt committed to do something to support this fantastic organization.

“Will you help us to finance the rest of this project? We will double the first €10,000! Join us and support our KNRM,” ELA Container said.

14:00 Dutch Government’s offshore wind workshop

The workshop Offshore Wind Energy in the Netherlands is currently taking place at OEEC, organised by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat – EZK), Rijkswaterstaat (RWS), TenneT TSO, and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland – RVO).

The focal point are the plans for offshore wind deployment in the Netherlands from 2030 to 2050 and the government’s policy updates, which were presented by Mark Stuurman and Joost Vermeulen from EZK.

Mark Stuurman stated: “We want to make sure that the steps we take right now fit into the system long-term.”

A panel discussion on what these plans would bring for the supply chain, both local and international, took place, followed by the government covering the upcoming tenders for 4 GW in the IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm Zone, from site selection and tendering, to the planning and development of the offshore grid.

14:30 Human Capital – The Stage

The Stage wraps up today with the final session talking about human capital in the offshore industry.

It gathered Jacolien Eijer, President at KIVI, Paul de Leeuw, Director at RGU Energy Transition Institute, Mark van den Berg, Sales Manager at Royal van der Wees Group, and Isabelle Huijgen, Teamlead Recruitment at Damen Shipyards Group.

Isabelle Huijgen notes that “there are still more male applicants in the offshore industry than female”, and, according to Jacolien Eijer, the industry needs to find jobs that fit to the new generation.

14:30 Scaling-up Marine Energy – Conference Area

In the fully-packed conference room, Benjamin Lehner, CTO of Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC), Anders Jansson, Head of Business Developments at CorPower Ocean, Raphael Sauter, Team Leader, DG ENER European Commission, Sue Barr, Director of Marine Energy at Simply Blue Group, Tom Berendsen, member of the European Parliament, Yuki Esser, Business & Innovation Advisor at DMEC, Patricia Schouten, Policy Officer Ministry of Infrastructure & Water Management, and Edoardo Dellarole, Head of Facilities and Production R&D Projects at ENI, kick-off the session Scaling-up Marine Energy.

Panelists discuss the latest marine energy deployments and opportunities to scale up these ambitious projects from a business, policy and technological perspective.

Tom Berendsen, EC Parliament, stated that we need more cooperation in the energy transition context: “Energy innovation has a significant role to play, which includes marine energy, as it has a great potential to contribute to the energy autonomy of Europe and the world.”

The speakers note that what the marine energy industry needs to do to prove its value and potential is to scale up further.

“The most important thing as developers of offshore renewables is collaboration. We need to learn how to work best as a team, to share the knowledge and work together strategically,” Sue Barr, noted.

14:00 Hydrogen Perspectives, TotalEnergies and Strohm – The Stage

Guillaume de Witt, Hydrogen Lead Negotiator, Europe & North Africa at TotalEnergies, and Martin van Onna, CEO of Strohm, have taken The Stage to take us deeper into the world of hydrogen and its role in the clean energy society.

TotalEnergines pointed out that we need hydrogen to reach net-zero as it has huge potential in industry, transport, and mobility, and it is a unique solution to decarbonization.

According to De Witt, hydrogen is “an adventure for our society”.

13:30 BP is speaking about low carbon energy integration – The Stage

Ina Kamps, Vice President Offshore Wind Growth at BP, is providing the audience at The Stage with a detailed look into the integration of low carbon energy.

She is accompanied by René Peters, Business Director at TNO.

BP entered the offshore wind market last year and has since grown its portfolio significantly and has placed bids at offshore wind auctions both in Europe and the U.S., with one of the latest being the Dutch Hollandse Kust (West) tender.

According to Peters, system integration is not selling your electrons to an end user, it is trying to make use of clever combinations to balance the whole energy system.

“System integration can be a game-changer if done really well”, said Ina Kamps.

Reporter on the floor

BP’s Ina Kamps was also interviewed by our reporter on the floor, Coco Kossmann, who spoke to several company representatives in The Stage area.

13:15 TGS talks data for efficient project development – The Stage

Jan Schoolmeesters, Executive Vice President at TGS, has discussed the value of data and how combination of data and insights can drive efficiencies in the offshore energy sector.

He said that ownership of data was important in oil and gas and added that TGS believes that ease of access is the key.

13:15 Damen unveils details on new CSOV

“We believe hydrogen is the future”, Stephen Bolton, Managing Director SOVs at Windcat Workboats, said at the unveiling of the new Commissioning Service Operating Vessel (CSOV) design that the company has developed in cooperation with Damen and CMB.TECH.

The CSOV is a dual fuel vessel made for the next generation of offshore wind projects.

13:00 Gusto MSC presents its wind turbine blade installation concept – The Stage

Andries Hofman, Product Development Manager at GustoMSC, a NOV company, has taken The Stage to present details of the Wind Blade Installation (WBI) solution, called the Sjøhest, Norwegian for ‘seahorse’.

The solution involves a new concept for blade installation equipment, consisting of a trolley with a telescopic leader boom, either integrated on a dedicated newbuild NG-5500XL jack-up vessel, or as a retrofit on existing jack-ups. The Sjøhest is a more efficient solution to install wind turbine blades, according to GustoMSC, especially with the big wind turbines now coming on the market.

RTL Z Nieuws is at Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference

RTL Z Nieuws is currently at the OEEC 2022 floor at RAI Amsterdam. RTL Z is shooting at the exhibition areas at the Marine Energy Pavilion and at our first-ever Hydrogen Area.

11:30 Focus on Floating Wind – Conference Area

“You need radical change in installing floating windfarms because floating wind is ramping up”, Joop Roodenburg, President at Huisman Equipment, said at the ‘Focus on Floating Wind’ session at this year’s Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference.

The second conference session for today, ‘Focus on Floating Wind’, has started with speakers: Arvid Nesse, CEO at Norwegian Offshore Wind; Barend Jenje, Commercial Director Floating Wind at GustoMSC; Sharanya Kumaramurthy, Senior Energy Analyst at EIC (Energy Industries Council), and Jaap Roodenburg, President at Huisman Equipment.

With speakers from two of the leading countries in floating wind, Norway and the UK, and the supply chain meeting in one place – the recent targets and floating wind auctions are at the forefront of the session.

As the current floating wind projects are pilots and the ambitions are high, the speakers are discussing the ins and outs of floating wind and how can the developers, floating wind technology companies, and the supply chain install a significant amount of capacity by the end of the decade, and even more beyond that point.

The floating wind session is packed, with some of the visitors of OEEC 2022 following the panel discussion via screens in the conference area.

10:45 Marine Energy Alliance Talks – The Stage

This morning, The Stage hosted talks from the companies that are members of the Marine Energy Alliance (MEA): SolarDuck, EVER, and WEDUSEA.

SolarDuck is joining RWE on the Hollandse Kust (West) VII project, for which the company will provide the floating solar part of development that will be integrated into RWE’s offshore wind farm, forming the largest hybrid power plant of that kind in the world.

Paula van Lieshout, Project Manager at SolarDuck, brought the company’s plans closer with her presentation on the stage. Next was Energies des Vagues Et Renouvelables (EVER), with the company’s chief executive Félix Elefant, who provided a showcase of the innovative wave energy device based on ‘rotating mass’ converter technology.

Wrapping it up was Ray Alcorn, the head of Exceedence, who talked about the pioneering €19.6 million project, dubbed WEDUSEA, which aims to be the stepping stone towards large-scale wave energy commercialization.

Lots of energy on the exhibition floor

The exhibition floor is buzzing with energy. Cool models, innovations, and solutions are all over the place at OEEC 2022’s exhibition.

A quick stroll between the stands can turn into hours as there is always something that catches the eye and intrigues the mind.

10:00 Start-up time! – The Stage

The Stage program has kicked off!

Our open stage at the exhibition floor first hosted an interview with Bucaneer and PortXL, before moving onto a very dynamic part with two-minute pitches from several start-ups.

In this part of the Start-up Time at The Stage, Flasc, Sideshore Technology, Tree Composites, Next Ocean, Sensing 360 pitched their innovative solutions.

Kirsten Reuiter Buccaneer said that it was important to use the same methods to form some sort of consistency in the ecosystem of accelerators.

09:00 RVO is holding a masterclass in offshore wind and the Netherlands-UK session 

The Government of the Netherlands, through the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), is holding a masterclass in offshore wind today and a Netherlands-UK session at RAI Amsterdam, where Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference (OEEC) 2022 is now well underway.

The Netherlands just recently announced a big target for 2050, when it aims to have 70 GW of offshore wind installed and anticipates 50 GW could be installed by 2040. Meanwhile, the government, as well as the transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT, is working on the 21 GW planned to be on the grid in 2030.

Currently, the government is wrapping up with the tender for Hollandse Kust (West), under which the site VII was recently awarded to RWE and the winner for the second site (VI) will soon be selected.

Among the ‘next up’ things for RVO and the government is the tendering of 4 GW of offshore wind at the IJmuiden Ver Zone, where TenneT’s innovative 2 GW offshore grid infrastructure will also be installed.

10:00 Marine Energy Alliance (MEA) Final Conference: From the drawing board to the sea – How to innovate in the offshore space

The Marine Energy Alliance (MEA) project has nearly reached its finish line four years since the launch.

“The goal of MEA is not only about developing marine energy technologies as quickly as possible and as efficient as possible, but also to develop business and commercial plans for the sector to make it attractive and viable long-term”, says Simon Stark from the Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC), who is the moderator of the session at OEEC.

The final conference for the project has kicked off at OEEC 2022 with the session from MEA partners who are sharing their know-how on what it takes to get this innovative clean energy-generating technology from the drawing board all the way to the sea, backed up with ‘the perfect’ commercial strategy for successful global scale-up.

Moderated by Simon Stark from DMEC, MEA’s session is joined by speakers: Thomas Soulard from ECN, Floor Spaargaren (MARIN), Andrew Aveyard (UEDIN), Christina Martinez Lozano (EMEC), and marine energy companies SolarDuck, HelioRec, Teamwork Technology – just to name a few.

Speaking about the technology in marine energy, Thomas Soulard from ECN said: “Making a priority list in the technology assessment process, backed up with related cost estimate, is one of the best ways to get the innovative marine energy technology closer to commercial readiness in the fastest way possible”.

10:00 The Roadmap to Hydrogen – Conference Area

The OEEC 2022 conference has commenced with the first session: ‘The Roadmap to Hydrogen’.

“We have to be careful with subsidized hydrogen. In the end it has to be viable”, says Peter R. A. Wells, CEO at LH2 Europe.

Wells also said that, in terms of commercialisation, there are a lot of similarities between LNG from the 80s and 90s and hydrogen.

Moderated by Canan Acar, Assistant Professor at University of Twente, the session has gathered the following speakers: Lennart van der Burg, Manager Renewable Hydrogen at TNO; Wouter den Boer, CCO at C-Job Naval Architects; Peter R. A. Wells, CEO at LH2 Europe, and Martin Kjäll-Ohlsson, Executive Vice President at Vergia.

One of the main points of the discussion is hydrogen technology for offshore application and what the optimal solution could be going forward. This, of course, also leads into the conversation on innovation in the hydrogen industry and cost-driving solutions and efforts.

Looking at the established industry of LNG, the session is also drawing parallels between the two in a quest for tapping into the experience in LNG to bring the hydrogen industry to maturity faster. With an overarching question of what it takes for the society to transform into a hydrogen economy, the speakers are also discussing the opportunities for the supply chain in this transition, as well as the challenges for the industry when it comes to infrastructure, regulation and safety.

Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference officially opens

Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference 2022 (OEEC 2022) has officially opened!

We welcome everyone to the 15th edition of our event, dedicated exclusively to the offshore energy and maritime sectors. Are you ready to network and learn about new products and services in the offshore industry?

Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference 2022 (OEEC 2022) is minutes away from official opening

The offshore energy industry is gathering at RAI Amsterdam as Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference will soon officially open its doors.

The stands are ready at RAI Amsterdam and OEEC is already buzzing with activity, even though we are some half an hour away from the official opening.

Welcome to the Live Blog!

Here you can read the most up-to-date information about the conference program, program on The Stage, side events, and highlights from the exhibition floor. You can expect plenty of information, presentations, and innovations, lots of which will be live-streamed.