Offshore Innovation Award seeking new ideas for offshore wind farms

"The new expansion target for offshore wind in Germany by 2040 and the EU's long-term goals for the sector have given the industry even more reason to prove the innovativeness shown over the past 20 years," said Jan Rispens, Managing Director of EEHH. Last year, the German Ministry of Economics announced its goal of setting up offshore wind power plants with a total capacity of 40 gigawatts in the North Sea and Baltic Sea by 2040. Peter Frohböse, Head of Engineering & Analytics in Energy Systems at DNV, commented: "Setting up offshore wind farms - including ones with floating wind turbines - far off the coast poses significant challenges for installation and operation." At the same time, the global market is rapidly evolving after "great successes in European waters". However, several innovations are needed to develop global supply chains and turbine types in other regions, he noted.

The Offshore Innovation Award 2021 will be presented based on the extent of technical innovation, practicability, potential market success and the potential for reducing wind farms’ costs. Delegates at the Hamburg Offshore Wind Conference (HOW), which is going digital this year, will vote on the winner from three finalists on April 28. Esteyco   won the first Offshore Innovation Award in 2019 with its moveable, offshore wind turbine that can be floated to the site and is installed without large vessels and cranes.
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