Drone hands over €1,3 million in subsidy for offshore wind
This morning, the Offshore Wind Innovation Centre (OWIC) officially received a subsidy of €1.3 million from Deputy Nienke Homan, on behalf of the Northern Netherlands Partnership (SNN) and the province of Groningen. The majority of this amount comes from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is supplemented by a provincial subsidy. The OWIC is an information, training, and innovation center in Eemshaven that focuses on companies and knowledge institutions involved in generating green, sustainable offshore wind energy. The center's goal is to facilitate and stimulate the development of business and innovation in the field of offshore wind energy. This brings together knowledge and experience and makes it more accessible in and for Noord-Nederland.
The need for green energy is increasing. The importance and scale of wind energy, particularly offshore wind energy, will also continue to grow in the coming years. Some of this wind energy is generated off the Wadden Sea coast. These offshore wind farms not only need to be built but also maintained. This presents significant economic opportunities for (new) business activity, knowledge sharing, and innovation. The innovation center contributes to this.
Taking innovation further
Nineteen parties (including businesses, knowledge institutions, and government agencies) have joined forces to form OWIC. Together, they aim to make it easier and faster for companies to innovate and develop in offshore wind energy. The focus is on service and maintenance of the wind farms. OWIC also aims to be the single point of contact for information and for making relevant contacts with others, as well as providing facilities for training and education in offshore wind energy.
The presentation took place in spectacular fashion at the Nijlicht collective building in Eemshaven. A drone from Droneport Eemshaven, one of the initiatives co-founded by the OWIC, arrived with a large check. After the presentation, in the presence of representatives including the province of Groningen, SNN, New Energy Coalition and Groningen Seaports, the official award of the subsidy became a fact.
Projects have started
OWIC launched on 22 October, 2020, and has since initiated several projects. Besides Droneport Eemshaven, which focuses primarily on wind turbine inspections, OWIC is already involved in two other innovative initiatives: Cable Centre Eemshaven, a collaboration of companies involved in cable storage, flushing, and transport, and Ocean Grazer, a start-up developing a test field for energy storage in Eemshaven.
Partners in OWIC
Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, Noorderpoort, University of Groningen, Technology Center Noord-Nederland, Groningen Seaports, Stichting NNOW , STARK Learning, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Windtech Inc., Hulst Innovation Cable Equipment (HICE), Rope Access Noord, STOPAQ, Hijsspecialist.nl, CIV Offshore & Shipping, Delftechniek, Virol, Lubbers, New Energy Coalition.
