Rotterdam: The world’s offshore wind delta

Offshore wind energy is critical to our shared, sustainable future

Offshore wind is a clean, abundant energy source and a critical component of Europe’s future energy system. Accelerating the development and deployment of offshore wind generation will help to address international de-carbonisation goals and ensure supply security. It will also create thousands of high skilled, high paid engineering jobs.

As part of its commitment to sustainable energy generation, the Dutch government has set out an ambitious Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap 2030. The plan is to develop an additional 7GW of offshore wind to in order to sustain 11.5GW of operating offshore wind capacity by 2030. That constitutes 40% of current electricity consumption in the Netherlands.

Europe’s leading offshore cluster – generating shared success

There are now over 200 offshore specialist companies employing around 15,000 experts in all aspects of the offshore supply chain across the Rotterdam region. This unique maritime and offshore community has fostered an innovative mindset and spirit of cooperation. Large companies are working with specialist SMEs and research institutes to drive business innovation and the transition to a low carbon economy.

This presence of leading experts combined with excellent port facilities and space for assembly, construction and research makes Rotterdam the perfect location for projects of any size or complexity. The spirit of collaboration is epitomised by the Rotterdam Offshore Wind Coalition, a group of Rotterdam-based frontrunners in the offshore wind sector. This coalition brings together leading companies, such as TenneT, Sif and Jules Dock among others, with the regional organisations, Port of Rotterdam and Rotterdam Partners. These Coalition members all share the ambition to collaborate and innovate.

Europe’s leading offshore cluster – generating shared success

There are now over 200 offshore specialist companies employing around 15,000 experts in all aspects of the offshore supply chain across the Rotterdam region. This unique maritime and offshore community has fostered an innovative mindset and spirit of cooperation. Large companies are working with specialist SMEs and research institutes to drive business innovation and the transition to a low carbon economy.

This presence of leading experts combined with excellent port facilities and space for assembly, construction and research makes Rotterdam the perfect location for projects of any size or complexity. The spirit of collaboration is epitomised by the Rotterdam Offshore Wind Coalition, a group of Rotterdam-based frontrunners in the offshore wind sector. This coalition brings together leading companies, such as TenneT, Sif and Jules Dock among others, with the regional organisations, Port of Rotterdam and Rotterdam Partners. These Coalition members all share the ambition to collaborate and innovate.

Rotterdam is up to the challenge

Offshore wind generation involves highly scaleable technology and offers significant new business opportunities. But, there are also major challenges. As onshore wind is hindered by local opposition and near-shore is getting full, we must look further offshore. However, as we move into these deeper waters, the sector demands ever more innovative and resilient technologies.

Rotterdam is playing a major role in creating, testing and bringing these innovations to market. One such project, with a bold vision to deliver new technologies on a large scale is the North Sea Wind Power Hub (NSWPH). The ambitious plan is to build an artificial island in the North Sea.

This ‘energy island’ will function as an offshore wind farm hub. One of the major expenses of wind turbines far out at sea is the longer cabling required to get the power back to land. The island idea is an innovative answer to the challenge of making offshore wind cheaper because relatively short cables will be taking the power from the turbines to the island hub. It is also an example of the visionary thinking in Rotterdam’s maritime and offshore cluster.

TenneT will connect the cluster of offshore wind farms to the hub via an offshore grid. It will use interconnectors and undersea cables to bordering countries to enable international transport and trade in electricity. The hub will also function as a location for Power to Gas solutions and as an offshore maintenance and development centre.

The project is led by the North Sea Wind Power Consortium. As part of their aim to develop a large-scale European system for offshore wind in the North Sea, they are investigating the development of one or more hubs with interconnectors to bordering countries.

“The North Sea Wind Power Consortium partners are committed to de-carbonising the energy sector of the North Sea countries and meeting the Paris Agreement goal of limiting climate change to well below 2 °C,” says Wilco van der Lans, Business Development Manager the Port of Rotterdam Authority. “We are coordinating and accelerating the international roll-out of large scale offshore wind in the North Sea by researching the technological and economic feasibility of different hub concepts, spatial locations and integration of the onshore energy infrastructure.”

The port of Rotterdam has the world’s best offshore infrastructure

“As Europe’s largest port and industrial cluster, the Port of Rotterdam is a key player in the Consortium,” continues Wilco. “With our port infrastructure and track record on land reclamation, such as Maasvlakte 2, we aim to be a frontrunner in energy transition and the most sustainable port in the world.”

The Port of Rotterdam has a bold, but realistic, ambition to become Europe’s ultimate offshore port. With 24/7 access to the North Sea, without locks and tide restrictions but with deep water and spacious port basins, the port has an outstanding physical infrastructure to support all offshore-related activities. World-renowned companies are attracted to these state of the art facilities because they provide ample space for concept development and testing.

Taking big, bold steps to the future

In March 2018, GE Renewable Energy announced €320 million of investment in the Haliade-X project. As part of this project, a prototype of the world’s largest and most powerful wind turbine, Haliade-X 12MW, will be installed in Rotterdam in the summer of 2019.

Sif, a leading manufacturer of offshore foundations for wind farms is hosting the turbine on its Maasvlakte site. “Rotterdam was in competition with other locations,” explains Sif CEO, Fred van Beers. “Rotterdam won because GE were looking for a place with wind conditions similar to being out at sea, but with the accessibility, infrastructure and logistics to do the testing and data collection onshore. Maasvlakte is reclaimed land, so has the ideal conditions. We can also facilitate the delivery and unloading of massive components by sea.”

“Rotterdam is used to managing big, complex projects,” continues Fred. “In particular, the Port of Rotterdam Authority is very supportive. That’s essential when you need permits, grid connections and a highly skilled workforce. They are typical of the business culture here in Rotterdam: everyone is keen to help get things moving.”

“It is one of the reasons we are in Rotterdam,” concludes Fred. “Of course, the infrastructure is essential, but we really value the can-do attitude and the speed at which decisions are taken. Other ports can be much slower. The whole set up is excellent for offshore wind facilities – that’s why it’s all being done here.”

Haliade-X 12MW is an impressive structure, as tall as the Flat Iron building in New York, with a blade sweep equivalent to seven American football fields. It will be tested onshore at Maasvlakte, Rotterdam and should generate savings in the manufacture, installation, service and repair of turbines.

An outstanding network of offshore expertise for innovative development

There are many start-ups working alongside the R&D departments of established multi-nationals in Rotterdam. Crucially, there are also networks in place to connect those with innovative ideas to the knowledge and facilities to develop prototypes and bring concepts to market. According to Ties Kerssemakers, Composites Engineer with Jules Dock, that makes Rotterdam an ideal location to develop and test projects that aim to improve the offshore sector.

Jules Dock develops composite towers for the offshore wind industry. These towers are lightweight, resistant to offshore conditions and incorporate great freedom in design. The weight reduction and maintenance savings are essential to reduce costs for the growing offshore wind industry.

The game-changing C-Tower is one of Jules Dock’s most high profile projects and winner of the Offshore Wind Innovation Award 2017 and iSea Match of the Concepts 2018. This 100m high tower is made of glass fibre reinforced plastic, which is 40% lighter than steel. Scaled models are being thoroughly tested with research partners (including one turbine with fibre optic sensors to measure stresses and strains) before the full-scale implementation.

Jules Dock has recently expanded its operations and moved out of the RDM Innovation Dock, where they started developing their designs. This innovation hotspot in Rotterdam port is an incubator that gives young companies in the maritime and offshore sector the space and resources to grow. These facilities and supportive culture have been instrumental to Jules Dock’s success.

“There is a very large existing group of offshore engineering companies here in Rotterdam,” explains Ties. “The excellent connections we have developed through the Rotterdam Offshore Wind Coalition have really helped us. We have been able to pool knowledge and keep ahead in what is a fast-moving sector.”

“Rotterdam is a city where the authorities want to help. They are keen to let innovations grow and do their thing. For example, when we wanted to create a bigger demonstrator project onshore, they helped us find the right space, get permits and all the other logistics involved in bringing a complex project to life. That support network connecting everyone involved in energy transition is very special; it is why all these good things are happening in Rotterdam.”

This unique combination of excellent facilities and supportive business culture means Rotterdam is ideally positioned to overcome the challenges of expanding offshore wind farms and to deliver innovative technologies on a large scale.