Kicked-off 12 September 2024, the Offshore Accelerator for System Integration and Storage (OASIS) is a holistic programme to accelerate the development and uptake of system integration and storage SMEs in the offshore renewable energy (ORE) sector. By developing tools and consolidating expertise across borders, the project will provide training, market research and a strong network, all specifically targeted at the ORE sector.
The ORE sector is not only driving the green transition in the North Sea Region, but also becoming one of its largest industries with an estimated value of € 16 billion in 2021 already and targets to grow by a factor of 7 over the coming 5 years.
This presents a great potential for the blue economy in general and for a broad range of innovations in particular. One area for such innovations is the intermittency of ORE production, where during production peaks price drops as well as grid congestion occur more and more regularly. Developers and especially SMEs in this field are however faced with a high entrance hurdle, related to tight risk management for large scale projects in the ORE sector.
Under the project lead of the Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC), the key goal of OASIS is to train SMEs in three crucial aspects: Technology development, Commercial development and Sustainable design. With this unique combined expertise, OASIS will provide SMEs with insights into their gaps in these fields, help them to implement crucial developments, provide quantified information of the potential of different markets and link them to market parties.
The OASIS partnership combines diverse expertise, insights into the challenges of the ORE sector, tools for ORE analysis and powerful networks. By exchanging tools and knowledge across borders, the partners will provide the content as well as a structure which will enable SMEs to seize opportunities and implement ideas for driving the green energy transition.
Vincent Bonnin, Project Manager: “The development and integration of storage assets is the cornerstone of a future renewable energy system. They will form the utilities that enable the energy system as a whole to hold to the challenge of power flexibility, without relying on fossil fuels. In years ahead, most renewable energy growth will occur offshore, and a very diverse range of storage solutions are currently being developed by SMEs in the North Sea Region. OASIS aims to build an ecosystem around these SMEs and support their growth towards independent utility providers within the ORE sector. ”
For further updates on the OASIS project, please follow OASIS on LinkedIn.
