Northsea Cluster Collaboration


Seven European cluster organisations have signed a joint manifesto in Esbjerg, Denmark on the 5th of October 2022. The collaboration agreement is meant to secure more EU-funding for energy related innovation projects in the North Sea Region.

 

Thematic Focus Areas

  • Wind energy, primarily offshore as the Esbjerg-declaration from 2022 targets at least 65 GW offshore wind in 2030 and 150 GW capacity in 2050 in the North Sea basin only.
  • Green hydrogen, as the bridge, green electricity can be transformed into a transportation fuel, or as feedstock in industrial processes, where currently no climate-neutral alternatives exist.
  • Supply chains, development bottlenecks (eg. raw materials, components and new untested technology) could prevent net zero deadlines from being met, and the clusters could be important in connecting (inter)national supply chains.
  • Human resources, the green transition will require both new skills and competencies from the existing workforce but also a need for additional workforce. Therefore, mobilization and re-location is needed to meet the demand.
  • Grid capacity, increasing the share of renewable energy in our power generation mix comes with its own challenges, not least building and operating electricity grids that can cope with large inputs of renewable energy sources.
  • Energy islands, can pool the power from multiple offshore wind farms and feed this directly to several countries. This represents a change from the previous philosophy of building isolated offshore wind farms with a power connection to one country only.

Participating Clusters

Energy Cluster Denmark is Denmark’s cluster organisation for the entire energy sector. Our vision is for Denmark to be a leading green nation in the development and demonstration of innovative and global energy solutions. Therefore, Energy Cluster Denmark is a neutral, value-creating and member-driven innovation platform for establishing and facilitating innovation collaborations between small and large companies, knowledge institutions and public players throughout the energy sector.

Website: https://www.energycluster.dk/en/

Project Portfolio: https://www.energycluster.dk/en/projects/

Members: https://www.energycluster.dk/en/members/

Contact: Peter Lundberg, Project Manager, tlf.: +45 31144570 / mail: plu@energycluster.dk

New Energy Coalition is a knowledge and innovation hub for the energy transition. It is located in the North of the Netherlands and operates globally with a focus on North-West Europe. Its mission is to accelerate the transition to a sustainable and resilient energy system by connecting and strengthening knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship. New Energy Coalition works with academic and research institutions, government agencies, industry partners and civil society to create a knowledge ecosystem for the energy transition. It aims to foster interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration, and to provide education and training for the next generation of energy professionals. The organization has a strong focus on the integration of renewable energy sources and the development of new energy technologies.

Website: https://www.newenergycoalition.org/en/

Project Portfolio:

Partners: https://www.newenergycoalition.org/en/partners

Members: https://www.newenergycoalition.org/newenergycommunity/leden/

Contact: Jannes Kalfsbeek, EU Project Manager, j.kalfsbeek@newenergycoalition.org & Ingrid Klinge, International Project Manager, i.klinge@newenergycoalition.org

WAB e.V. is the nationwide contact partner for the offshore wind industry in Germany and the leading business network for onshore wind energy in Germany’s north-west region. WAB was founded in 2002 and comprises some 250 smaller and larger businesses as well as institutes from all sectors of the wind industry, the maritime industry as well as research.

WAB e.V. supports the realization of growing, complete and cost-efficient value chains in the offshore wind industry, the onshore wind industry. WAB is committed to supporting the emerging market of “green” hydrogen in Germany and other regions.

The wind industry and hydrogen association WAB e.V., as the voice of the supply chain, supports expansion targets that will enable us to achieve climate neutrality quickly with green energy as electrons and molecules.

Website: https://www.wab.net/en/wab/about-us/wab/

Project Portfolio: https://northsearegion.eu/inn2power/

Members: https://www.wab.net/en/members/members/member-overview/

Contact: Markus Nölke, Managing Director, markus.noelke@wab.net

Blue Cluster is a Belgian non-profit cluster organization that stimulates cross-sector partnerships and cooperation between industry, knowledge centres and government institutions in order to create an ecosystem based and smart blue economy. Within this scope, we have been officially recognized by the Flemish government as a spearhead cluster since 2018 and we are a structural partner of Flanders Investment & Trade. The Blue Cluster counts over 164 members and partners.

Blue Cluster is the first point of contact as well as the main discussion partner for companies, policy makers, research institutes and NGO’s engaged in sustainable innovative economic activities linked to the sea. We support companies to transform innovative ideas into specific concepts and projects, and provide assistance with the valorisation of products and services in the Belgian North Sea and beyond. In this way we boost the image of the Belgian marine and maritime sector.

Website: https://www.bluecluster.be/

Project Portfolio: https://www.bluecluster.be/projects?f%5B0%5D=projecttype%3A25

Members: https://www.bluecluster.be/about/members-partners

Contact: Stefaan Mensaert – stefaan.mensaert@blauwecluster.be

Renewable Energy Hamburg (REH) is a cluster organiszation with 240+ members from the renewable energy sector in Hamburg and Northern Germany. Since autumn 2010, REH has been offering interested stakeholders the ideal platform for networking and information as the central regional industry network nationally and internationally. The core elements of cluster activities are in offshore and onshore wind energy, together with solar energy, renewable heat, sector coupling and hydrogen. With the “Vision 2025” we have set the goal of supporting the Metropolitan Region of Hamburg on its way to becoming the model region for integrated energy transition.

Website: https://www.erneuerbare-energien-hamburg.de/en/

Project Portfolio: https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/klimaschutz/amendment-of-the-renewables-act-2060448

Members: https://www.erneuerbare-energien-hamburg.de/de/mitglieder/mitgliedsunternehmen.html

Contact: Astrid Dose, Deputy Managing Director/Head of International Business and Marketing, astrid.dose@eehh.de& Jingkai Shi, International Cooperation Renewables, jingkai.shi@eehh.de

Flux50 is the membership organization that helps Flanders gain international recognition as a Smart Energy Region. Flux50 facilitates cross-sector collaboration between energy, IT and building companies to enhance the competitiveness of the Flemish smart energy industry in the transition towards low carbon systems.

Flux50 brings together relevant players from industry, academia and government and provides them with project support, networking opportunities and a knowledge-sharing platform.

Website: https://flux50.com/

Project Portfolio: https://flux50.com/innovation-support/flux50-projects

Members: https://flux50.com/about/members

Contact: Frederik Loeckx, Managing Director, frederik.loeckx@flux50.com & Ariane Raïssa Decramer, ariane.decramer@flux50.com

Energy Transition Norway is an energy transition cluster based in Stavanger, the energy capital of Norway. We bring world-leading expertise and technology environments together to increase the pace of innovation in the energy transition.​

Energy Transition Norway (ETN) comprises more than 130 members and partners. The members embrace a wide range of companies, such as operators, suppliers, start-ups, investors, research and academia, and authorities. The broad range of members covers the complete value chain for oil and gas and places the cluster in a unique position.​The cluster works on the transition for companies to succeed in new value chains. Collaboration across the segments and the member companies fosters an environment for innovation and technology developments. The core of the cluster’s activity is to initiate innovative industrial energy projects.

Energy Transition Norway is an arena for networking, technology transfer and collaboration. We provide our members the opportunity to present and discuss challenges and solutions outside their traditional network.

Website: https://www.energytransitionnorway.no/

Project Portfolio: https://www.energytransitionnorway.no/projects

Members: https://www.energytransitionnorway.no/members

Contact: Egil Aanestad, Managing Director, egil.aanestad@energycluster.no & Kristoffer W. Moldekleiv, EU Advisor, kristoffer.w.moldekleiv@energycluster.no

Innovation Activities

  • Regular meetings,our clusters meet regularly (biannual meetings – online/physical) to continuously develop our collaboration and follow up on our activities.
  • Open access project pool,all the clusters are involved in national projects within the focus areas, we aim to connect these by developing a pool of national projects in order to find connections between them and potentially develop international projects together.
  • B2B and networking groups, based on the different national setups we are all engaged in activities connecting our members or have established groups working within a specific topic. We will to work on widening this to international activities and perform B2B between our clusters or setting up cross border networking groups. To keep in cost-effective this could be done online or at already existing conferences (eg. WindEurope).
  • Project development, the goal with our collaboration is to develop international innovation projects together. Either to facilitate the project-development or to foster collaboration among our members. Projects could be funded within Interreg North Sea, I3 or Horizon Europe.

 

Upcoming Events

Month Event Place
22-24 October Hydrogen Technology Expo Hamburg, DE
6-7 November Wind Energy Trade Show Ireland Dublin, Ireland
13 November Decommissioning: Become Part of It Oostende, BE
19-20 November WINDFORCE Baltic Sea Maribo, DK
27 November Energy Innovation Matchmaking Event Odense, DK
26-27 November North Sea Mission Arena (EU Mission Oceans) Amsterdam, NL
28 November Wind Energy Denmark Conference Odense, DK
12-13 March 2025 Belgian Offshore Days Oostende, BE
May 2025 EECP meeting at ECD Annual Meeting Esbjerg, DK
11-13 June 2025 CCUS Conference Stavanger, NO
16-18 June 2025 WINDFORCE Conference Bremerhaven, DE
9-11 September 2025 H2 Conference Norway Stavanger, NO