Energy from water: leading technologies & example projects
Date and time: Wednesday afternoon September 26th 2018
Organiser: Suzanne Tietema, NWP International Advisor
About the session
There are several technologies that aim to covert the power of water into power for people. Examples are tidal energy, salinity gradient, river current, tidal basin energy, wave energy, aquatic biomass, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) and off course traditional hydropower.
Marine energy is emerging as a huge and potentially unlimited source of power. Oceans cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface; they are sources of huge kinetic energy from waves, currents and tides, and of thermal energy in the form of heat they collect from the sun. But also the salinity gradient between salt and fresh water, the current from rivers that can’t be dammed and the biomass produced in water are excellent sources of energy. To harnass the power of water and convert it to energy which can be used by people is a challenge we face but is also a challenge which is accepted by many developers all over the world. We would like to tell you more about it. Curious to learn about our innovative solutions? Join our session!
Title: SeaQurrent’s TidalKite™ – reliable, affordable and sustainable energy from low velocity tidal currents
It is SeaQurrent’s mission to make tidal energy affordable and generate clean electricity worldwide. Tidal currents are inexhaustible, very predictable and contain a large amount of energy. If tidal energy is affordably produced, it is an ideal source for a future proof and truly sustainable energy supply. So, the challenge is to combine efficiency, reliability and low costs in one concept. SeaQurrent succeeded in this and develops an ‘underwater kite’ – the TidalKite™ – with which sustainable energy can be generated from tidal currents. We do this by partnering with companies, research institutions and governments on the basis of mutual benefit. Together we are realizing the world’s most efficient and environmentally friendly tidal energy plants. Currently the TidalKite is tested in the Dutch Wadden Sea.
Speaker
Mr. Maurits Alberda, co-founder SeaQurrent
Bio
Maurits Alberda has a background in marketing management. He has worked in various sectors in business development, marketing and innovation management. For the past 6 years he has worked on accelerating energy innovations and stimulating entrepreneurship at the Energy Academy Europe. This is where his sense of urgency has arisen to help build a more sustainable future. Maurits is now co-founder of SeaQurrent; a startup that generates renewable energy from tidal currents by flying an ‘underwater kite’. At SeaQurrent he is responsible for funding and the marketing of SeaQurrent.
Title: SWAC/OTEC: from potential to execution
Speaker
Mr. Wybe Bruinsma, Bluerise
Bio
Wybe Bruinsma is a project consultant at Bluerise, a Delft based renewable energy company harnessing the oceans power for utility scale electricity and cooling solutions. Bluerise utilizes the naturally existing temperature differences in the ocean water column and is a pioneer in the development of reliable, affordable and sustainable baseload cooling and power facilities. SWAC/OTEC projects are under development in Jamaica, Curacao, Colombia and Sri-Lanka.
Bluerise has also developed my.oceanpotential.com, a simple online tool to obtain a pre-assessment for the availability of the OTEC resource for any location. Wybe is also a partner of Maxwell Silver, a corporate finance firm with over 20 years experience in supporting local start-ups and international organizations on financing, M&A transactions, and project structuring, with a strong focus on renewables. Recent Maxwell Silver projects have spanned solar energy, waste to energy, sea water air cooling, ocean thermal energy conversion, and sustainable real estate development (net-zero building projects). Previously, Wybe was General Counsel at RWE Energy in the Netherlands, specializing in energy regulation and corporate law. He earned degrees in notarial law and in civil-law from the Free University (Vrije Universiteit) and the University of Amsterdam. Wybe returned to the Netherlands (Friesland) after living in the Dutch Caribbean (Curacao) since 2008. He is a part-time lecturer at the University of Curacao and chairman of Foundation Youth Sailing Curacao. He is passionate about the transition to the low-carbon economy, and wrote multiple articles about sustainable energy in the Caribbean region.
Title: Harvesting Methane from Hydroelectric Dams – Opportunities ahead
Methane or CH4 contributes strongly to climate change because it has a global warming potential 24 times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2). Because of microbial decomposition of flooded organic matter, reservoirs used for hydroelectricity, contribute to 770 megatons annually of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions – comparable to the emissions of the entire nation of Canada.
We aim to design a modular gas extraction and processing system suitable for hydroelectric power plants and similar bodies of water with low methane concentration. Our system will produce electricity in a reliable and efficient way.
Speaker
Mr. Nestor Rueda Vallejo, The Methane Harvesting Company
Bio
Néstor Rueda Vallejo has been working for more than 14 years as a project engineer, research engineer, and consultant. At the moment, Néstor is the principal consultant at his own company Isaeng in the Netherlands and in Colombia. He has experience developing engineering projects throughout Europe and Latin America.
Title: Certifying the future of Marine Energy
MET-CERTIFIED, is an Interreg 2Seas project, that aims to increase the adoption of insurable and therefore bankable marine energy projects through the development of internationally recognised standards and certification schemes. Standardisation and certification helps leverage private investment, which is critical for commercialisation
MET-CERTIFIED wiil design, build, and install a state of the art floating platform at a commercial tidal site with an operational tidal turbine that will be used as a reference case for the first internationally recognised certification of a tidal power technology.
The project is of big interest to many stakeholders around certification, from banks and insurers to consenting authorities, end-users, test facilities and classification bureaus.
Speaker
Mr. Martijn Geertzen, International Standardisation Officer, NEN/MET-CERTIFIED
Bio
Ir. Martijn Geertzen has over 10 years experience in international standardisation and certification of Renewable Energies, including Marine Energy. He his scope of activities ranges from contributions to innovative research projects to contributing to legislation and from new technology assistance to mature market support. At NEN the Dutch stakeholders write and contribute to global standardisation and certification of not only Wind, Solar an Marine Energy, but also Biomass, Hydrogen and Geothermal sources as well as more traditional energy supply.
Program
16:00 Opening & Welcome NWP
SeaQurrent’s TidalKite™ – reliable, affordable and sustainable energy from low velocity tidal currents
Mr. Maurits Alberda, SeaQurrent
SWAC/OTEC: from potential to execution
Mr. Wybe Bruinsma, Bluerise
Harvesting Methane from Hydroelectric Dams – Opportunities ahead
Mr. Néstor Rueda Vallejo
European Cooperation in Energy from Water
Mr. Martijn Geertzen, NEN
17:15 Q & A and discussion
17:30 End of session program
This session is being organised by: NWP & NEN, supported by Topsector Water & Maritiem, TKI Watertechnologie
About Netherlands Water Partnership
The Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) is your gateway to the Dutch Water Sector. Companies, NGOs, Knowledge Institutes and Government institutions have joined forces in this public-private partnership. From water purification to spatial planning, from governance to land reclamation, from small scale solutions to mega structures: the partnership has the expertise. The members of the partnership work together to offer sustainable, multifunctional water solutions for people, planet and profit worldwide. The international potential for Energy from Water is large and the Netherlands has a strong starting position. Thanks to our broad experience in the field of delta technology and water technology, we are able to combine renewable energy with hydraulic engineering on both large and small scale. For this reason, NWP is participating in the Dutch Marine Energy Center project, which aims to combine all forces in the Netherlands in the field of Energy from Water. NWP identifies and supports promising Dutch developments and parties to jointly enter the international market.
By: NWP, supported by Topsector Water & Maritiem, TKI Watertechnologie
