Although a strong proponent of system integration, Frank Oomen says that floating solar technology development “isn’t there yet to bring that into the tender”.
Having worked in developing inland floating solar projects, Oomen says that these are built at sites where the waves in the harsh winter are not that high, and with subsidies.
“So, subsidized, it is possible to develop a floating solar project where the waves in the harsh winter are maybe knee-high. Now in the current tender, it is assumed to build a large chunk of floating solar offshore, in really harsh conditions where there [are] not 50 centimeters but 15 meters of wave that they have to survive, at the stage where the technology is not that far yet. So in fact, the offshore wind development is burdened by developing a different technology.”
For integrated offshore wind-to-hydrogen projects, Oomen sees strong opportunities and growth, but he also says that these projects need the right support and further work on the system integration part of the tenders.
Once there is a solid business case for the offshore wind part of a proposal, it can carry the entire project through a tender, including system integration.
“[You are] required for the tender you want to deliver on the system integration but one part of the chain does not do the math, it does not work. In order to make that system integration work also, that part needs to have a different form of support. It doesn’t mean money, it can also be de-risking,” Frank Oomen said on 28 November in his talk at OEEC’s The Stage .
Oomen also provided insights and opinions on the ecological criteria and financial bids. To learn what Frank Oomen had to say on the setup of offshore wind tenders, watch his talk at The Stage :
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