A consortium of 16 Dutch companies and research institutes will launch an innovation program for offshore wind – GROW – with an aim to bring the cost of offshore wind further down to seven eurocents per kWh by 2030.
The GROW (Growth through Research, development & demonstration in Offshore Wind) consortium will spend at least EUR 100 million on research, development and demonstration projects over the next five years, with the first projects expected to commence in the fall of 2016.
The founders are Delft Offshore Turbine, Deltares, ECN, Eneco, Lagerwey, LM Wind Power, Royal IHC, RWE, Seaway Heavy Lifting, Shell, Sif, TenneT, TNO, TU Delft, Van Oord, and Volker Stevin International. The consortium will work together with the TKI Wind op Zee.
The mission of GROW is “twenty for seven”: The GROW consortium of around twenty organizations in the Dutch offshore wind sector will contribute to cost reductions to reach a cost of seven eurocents per kWh by 2030. At this cost level, offshore wind will compete with other renewable and fossil energy sources – without having to be subsidized.
GROW will pursue technical innovations that bring the cost of offshore wind further down and contribute to the reliability and stability of the entire energy system. It will also improve symbiosis with other sectors at sea (oil & gas, fishery, shipping and tourism) and will research and further limit the environmental effects of offshore wind, the consortium said.
The consortium is currently in discussions with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Topsector Energy to explore options for government support and cooperation.
The plan for the GROW project will be presented to the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp on the first day of Wind Days 2016, being held on 15 and 16 June in Rotterdam.