Partners sign agreement to install a floating tidal energy platform near Texel
Providing clean electricity, in the future to remote locations worldwide
Amsterdam, 29 October 2014 – A group of leading offshore companies including Bluewater, Damen and Van Oord have joined together to realize a unique floating tidal energy platform which will be moored near Texel in the Wadden sea and generate clean electricity from the tides. The platform is a trial for remote locations worldwide, such as islands in Indonesia, Philippines or the Pacific. It is of an innovative modular design and uses a new type of permanent mooring lines. It will be the first time that a floating tidal platform is used for electricity production into the Dutch grid. It will be operational in the first half of 2015.
“This platform can be shipped and installed anywhere in the world, to provide clean electricity in remote areas and small islands, replacing expensive and polluting diesel generators” says Allard van Hoeken, Head of New Energy at Bluewater Energy Services. “This smaller test platform, while ready to use in remote locations, is also a stepping stone for our larger 2MW platform development”
“Together with Bluewater we have adapted our modular barge product to a modular tidal power generation platform, that can be shipped as containers to any location in the world” says Arnout Damen, COO of Damen Shipyards. “After container transport the modules can be assembled to shipbuilding quality vessels”.
The unique cooperation between Bluewater, Damen, Van Oord, Tocardo, Schottel Hydro, TKF, Vryhof, NIOZ, Nylacast and TTC bundles extensive experience in the maritime and offshore industry, in the field of design and operation of mooring platforms, shipbuilding, offshore dredging and installation, tidal turbines, power cables, anchors, research at sea and synthetic materials.
The BlueTEC platform is developed for cost effective installation, operations&maintenance of tidal turbines. BlueTEC floats and can be towed to location without heavy lifting at sea. It accommodates all vulnerable electronics equipment inside the unit, where it is dry and protected, yet allowing for easy access for inspection, maintenance and repair. The platform can be disconnected from the moored location and taken to a local port for heavy repair when needed. With this modular, flexible floating platform the global tidal energy industry reached a new state-of-the-art.
The Texel platform is the small, simple and robust version of BlueTEC. Aimed at remote locations, it consists of container size modules, can be assembled locally and installed without sophisticated equipment. It holds a 200 KW turbine that can power local villages, cooling facilities and provide lighting at schools which will change local economies. It will be the first time that electricity generated from free flowing tidal currents will be supplied to the island of Texel.
Companies:
Bluewater: Since its foundation in 1978, Bluewater Energy Services B.V. has built a technological lead specialising in design, development, lease and operation of tanker-based production and/or storage (FPSO, FSO) systems, and has become a leading provider of innovative Single Point Mooring (SPM) systems. Within Bluewater, our New Energy focus is on the emerging tidal energy industry. We introduced Bluewater’s Tidal Energy Converter (BlueTEC) that will bring this industry afloat.
Damen: Damen Shipyards operates 40 ship- and repair yards, employing 8.000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 5.000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers approx. 180 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Damen offers a wide range of products, including: tugs, workboats, naval and patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, vessels for the offshore industry, ferries, pontoons and super yachts. Damen’s focus on standardisation, modular construction and keeping vessels in stock leads to short delivery times, low ‘total cost of ownership’, high resale value and reliable performance. Damen Shiprepair & Conversion offers a network of 16 repair & conversion yards worldwide, with dry docks ranging up to 420×80 metres. Conversion projects range from adapting vessels to today’s requirements and regulations to the complete conversion of large offshore structures. DS&C handles 1,500 repair and maintenance jobs annually.
Van Oord: Van Oord is a leading international contractor specialising in offshore projects (oil, gas and wind) and dredging and marine engineering. Its head office is located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The company’s expertise ranges from design to execution and it has been involved in such noteworthy projects as Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, the port of Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte 2 expansion, the installation of a Gravity Based Structure Arkutun Dagi in Russia, shallow water pipe lay installation and the construction of several offshore wind farms in the North Sea. For more than 145 years Van Oord is an independent family business that employs about 4,500 professionals worldwide. Its modern fleet consists of more than one hundred vessels and other specialised equipment.
Tocardo: TOCARDO International BV is a Dutch company dedicated to delivering the best and most economical turbines to harvest energy from the world’s oceans and rivers. Over the past 12 years, Tocardo has had many successes in offshore engineering and the development of renewable ocean energy devices. The TOCARDO free-flow in-stream hydro turbines can be compared to ‘underwater wind turbines’: free-standing underwater units, generating energy from sea currents and tidal and river flows. TOCARDO turbines offer the lowest possible kWh price through minimized maintenance and maximized power generation technology. They are easy to install and have no or limited environmental impact.
TKF: Twentse Kabel Fabriek Founded in 1930, TKF has developed from a local Dutch cable producer to a cable technology leader servicing customers all over the world. As a member of TKH-Group, a Netherlands based international group of technology-powered companies, TKF has access to various international marketing, purchasing sales and research groups with diverse specialisms. TKF has dedicated itself to delivering innovative Telecom, Building and Industrial Solutions that match specific customer needs.
Vryhof: Vryhof Anchors is a leading worldwide provider of high-holding-power drag anchors, ancillary mooring products and services to the offshore oil & gas industry. The company was founded in the early seventies and has six offices worldwide. Vryhof Anchors has delivered more than 10.000 drag anchors globally since its inception. Vryhof Anchors is majority owned by HitecVision, a leading private equity investor focused on the upstream offshore oil and gas industry.
Royal NIOZ: The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, with offices on the isle of Texel and in Yerseke in the province of Zeeland, is the national oceanographic institute and is one of the institutes of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The mission of Royal NIOZ is to gain and spread scientific knowledge on coastal seas and oceans for a better understanding and a sustainable management of our planet. Nylacast:
Nylacast: Nylacast is a world leader in the design and manufacture of Polymers and Engineered Solutions to the Marine, Gas, Oil and Off-Shore sectors. Founded and based in Leicester in 1969, Nylacast provides value-added solutions to its partners and innovative techonology with significant technical expertise in the engineered polymers market and offers a unique total solution proposition in the market place. This end to end service comprises material selection, design and engineering consultation, advanced machining, application testing and service inspection.
TTC: The Dutch Tidal Testing Centre (TTC) located in the North of Holland at Den Oever provides excellent opportunities for tidal stream testing at intermediate scale. We can offer testing in a ducted open water channel, open water tow tests with a barge and in the near future testing will also be possible at our dedicated offshore floating site. Besides these services, TTC is involved in several funded research projects both in national and international consortia. We collaborate with other test facilities such as ECN, NIOZ, EMEC and others and in international networks, for example on the development of standards in the International Electrotechnical Commission IEC to help advance the marine energy industry.