PRESS RELEASE

CrossWind and Oceans of Energy add offshore solar to the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind park

First offshore solar farm in the world to be connected, installed and operated within a wind farm in high wave conditions

Leiden/Rotterdam, The Netherlands; April 24 2023 – Oceans of Energy has been awarded the contract for installing and operating offshore solar inside the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind park by CrossWind, a joint-venture between Shell and Eneco. This is the first offshore solar farm in the world to be connected, installed and operated within a wind farm in high wave conditions. The offshore solar farm will be realized in 2025, the wind park will be operational by the end of 2023.

With offshore solar added to offshore wind it is possible to also produce energy on sunny but less windy days and hence increase the utilization of the offshore power grid infrastructure. The solar panels will be situated in-between the offshore wind turbines, an efficient way of sharing the sea space. CrossWind’s Hollandse Kust Noord project is an innovative offshore wind park that will use cutting-edge technologies and engineering solutions to improve the flexibility of offshore wind parks.

The project has many first offs:

• First wind park in the world with an offshore combination of battery storage and round-trip green hydrogen produced from offshore wind power on a MegaWatt scale.
• First wind park that has committed to mature and demonstrate offshore wake control technologies like closed-loop active wake steering in combination with the novel active wake mixing in order to increase the efficiency of wind parks.
• First offshore solar system in the world electrically connected and operated within a wind park in harsh sea conditions.

Offshore solar is a promising area of renewable energy development

“We are excited to announce that we have signed a contract with Oceans of Energy for the development and deployment of the floating solar project in CrossWind,” says Maria Kalogera, Innovations Manager of CrossWind. “Offshore floating solar is an exciting area of renewable energy development that is poised to play an important role in the energy transition. This project marks a significant milestone for our CrossWind Innovations Team as we continue to push on our commitment to create better energy solutions for the future.”

“We are very pleased that Crosswind and their shareholders Shell and Eneco have trust in Oceans of Energy for realizing this first off amazing project,” says Allard van Hoeken, founder and CEO of Oceans of Energy. “We will add offshore solar to offshore wind. Our performance and our system will be key for the success of the innovational part of the offshore wind farm. This is a large responsibility as Hollandse Kust Noord will function as an example for combined offshore wind and solar parks in the future.”

 

About CrossWind

CrossWind, a joint-venture between Shell and Eneco, builds and operates the Hollandse Kust Noord (HKN) subsidy-free offshore wind park, located 18.5 kilometers off the coast of the Netherlands near Egmond aan Zee. Once all 69 turbines are installed and commissioned, the Hollandse Kust Noord wind park will have a total installed capacity of 759 MW, generating at least 3.3 TWh per year.  Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is supplying the wind turbines and Van Oord is supplying the foundations and cables and installing the wind turbines at sea. CrossWind is in close contact with TenneT, the developer of the ‘offshore power socket’ connecting HKN to the grid, as well as the relevant ministries, coastal authorities and other stakeholders.

About Oceans of Energy

Oceans of Energy is market leader in offshore solar energy generation, the associated anchoring technology and ecological research to understand and mitigate any impact on the environment. It is the pioneering company that brought Offshore Solar in high waves from a (perceived) impossibility to a reality. Founded in 2016, this Dutch company has since grown to forty employees. The company has raised €20 million so far. Projects are amongst others supported by RVO, MIT-Zuid-Holland, REACT EU, INTERREG, and Horizon-2020 programs. Crosswind’s Hollandse Kust Noord is Oceans of Energy’s first commercial project.

 

END OF PRESS RELEASE

 

For more information:

 

Oceans of Energy
Ariane van Hoeken
ariane@oceansofenergy.blue
+31 6 48 65 09 37

 

CrossWind
Rianne de Voogt
Rianne.deVoogt@eneco.com
+31 6 11 41 8016