Enhancing biodiversity in offshore windfarms in the North Sea

De Rijke Noordzee (DRN) is a Dutch organization with a mission to enhance nature utilizing the opportunities which offshore wind farms offer. The organization is currently working on several nature enhancement projects in offshore wind farms in the Dutch part of the North Sea. However, DRN’s mission to enhance biodiversity does not stop at the...

Analysing the North Sea Offshore Energy System in Light of the Energy Transition:: A Case Study Application of the Extended Multi-Level Perspective Framework

The urgent need to address global warming and achieve the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement necessitates an energy transition in Europe, with offshore wind energy in the North Sea playing a vital role. Despite the complexity of the North Sea's offshore energy system, the existing literature lacks a comprehensive study of the entire system,...

Design and integration of an off-shore off-grid system and an on-land system for comparison on photovoltaic performance

The purpose of this thesis research was to perform a photovoltaic (PV) performance assessment and comparison between a small-scale land-based PV system and an off-shore off-grid floating PV system. Also from this research design guidelines for off-grid off-shore floating PV systems were developed. The research experiment was carried out in The...

Offshore green hydrogen production and transportation to shore via pipelines in the North Sea with parallel natural gas transport: A techno – economic analysis

The North Sea has significant potential in becoming a green energy hub, due to its remarkable offshore wind potential, and could therefore facilitate the energy transition to a net-zero energy system in Europe in the coming decades. In this transition, hydrogen is also predicted to play a key role, due to its ability to transport and store...

The nutrient bioextraction potential of offshore macroalgae cultivation: A study on the establishment of ecosystem services through large-scale offshore macroalgae cultivation in the North Sea

Due to the increasing impact of terrestrial agriculture on climate change, the attention of a myriad of industries is shifting towards the use of alternative, low-emission resources. Seaweed cultivation has presented itself as a contribution to the mitigation of the increased pressure on current resources. However, coastal and offshore marine...

An exploratory evaluation of green hydrogen production and the social cost of offshore wind farms in the Netherlands

Social Acceptance for Decommissioning Offshore Wind Farms on the North Sea

Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs) have developed into an integral part of the European energy transition in the fight against climate change. The North Sea, with its excellent wind conditions and soil characteristics, as well as ports and industrial energy consumers nearby, has become the epicenter of offshore wind development. The coming years will...

The role of gas infrastructure for integrating offshore wind in the North Sea region: Analysing different energy visions in the North Sea region

This research explores the different envisioned roles of gas infrastructure for integrating offshore wind into the energy system of the North Sea Region (NSR). In this research, the NSR is defined as consisting of the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom. The NSR is characterized by the increasing use of their...

Offshore Energy Hub Island in the North Sea: The development of a hydrodynamic model to explore the ecological feasibility

To combat the emission of greenhouse gasses and the corresponding climate change, emission reduction goals have been established in the recent Paris Agreement. In order to meet these reduction goals and minimise the global average temperature increase, implementation of renewable energy sources is critical. Wind energy is one of the fastest...

Wave Climate and Coastline Response of the Dutch Coast: Investigating the effect of large-scale offshore wind farm developments in the North Sea

To counteract the effect of climate change, a global agreement was put into force in 2016, aiming to limit the increase in average global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In that respect, European countries are investing in cleaner sources of energy and predominantly offshore wind, which has seen a rapid growth over the last years....

Offshore pumped hydropower storage: Technical feasibility study on a large energy storage facility on the Dogger Bank

To combat global warming a transition towards renewable energy sources (RES) is essential. Although RES have much lower life-cycle emissions, they do not offer a continuous and fully predictable output like their fossil-fuelled counterparts. Energy storage is paramount in order to include the growing share of these intermittent sources into the...

Feasibility Study of the Hub and Spoke Concept in the North Sea: Developing a Site Selection Model to Determine the Optimal Location

The European energy system is significantly changing to restrict the rise in global average warming. There is a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, which resulted in an exponential growth of offshore wind energy capacity in the North Sea. However, the North Sea is already one of the most intensively used sea basins in the world...

Update Offshore Wind Atlas: Implementing a variable sea surface roughness

In 2005 the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) published its first version of the Offshore Wind Atlas of the Dutch part of the North Sea [3]. This version has been updated and improved using longer time series and another approach for the calculation of the roughness of the sea surface. In contradiction to other Wind Atlases which...

Update Offshore Wind Atlas: Implementing a variable sea surface roughness

In 2005 the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) published its first version of the Offshore Wind Atlas of the Dutch part of the North Sea [3]. This version has been updated and improved using longer time series and another approach for the calculation of the roughness of the sea surface. In contradiction to other Wind Atlases which...