DMEC CEO: Marine energy is ready to go

As part of our OEEC 2021 interviews segment, Britta Schaffmeister, CEO of Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC), talks about the need for innovative clean energy solutions to successfully fight the climate change, and how marine energy is ready to step up to the challenge.

“There is more and more interest in how to solve the climate crises. We need actually need new technologies to do that, and marine energy is ready to go. The technologies are there, they are proven, and they are ready to solve the problem”, said Schaffmeister.

Schaffmeister reflected on the Marine Energy Alliance (MEA) project, led by DMEC, and how the collaborations within the marine energy sector extend into the wider offshore industry.

She also spoke about the increase in interest for marine energy industry from the offshore energy sector in general, starting with the supply chain all the way across to politics.

“We also see that governments are putting in new targets, and if we want to comply with those targets, then we need to collaborate with the wider offshore energy industry”, Schaffmeister added.

DMEC’s CEO also remined that large-scale marine energy deployments are already happening, as, according to Schaffmeister, it’s important to underline that marine energy ‘is not just a story’.

Joining Schaffmeister in the interview was Benjamin Lehner, Project Portfolio Manager at DMEC, who talked about marine energy’s ability to integrate with other renewable energy sources, best showcased by the ongoing EU-SCORES project that will integrate wave energy, floating solar, and offshore wind in two separate hybrid demonstrators that will be deployed offshore Belgium and the Netherlands.