POSEIDON can help us to look at the seas from a different perspective. A wide range of projects can support the sustainable utilisation of our seas and oceans. And not in a distant future! POSEIDON is happening right now! Today's projects include:

Multi-Wind: optimizing the infrastructure for multiple offshore wind projects

In the North Sea at the Belgian coast, three wind projects with a total capacity of about 800 MW will be built in the coming years. This involves investments in the order of 2 billion Euro. The three project developers Belwind (a project of Evelop), C-Power, and Eldepasco, are joining forces with the federal government. They have set up the Belgian North Sea Wind Energy Platform (BNSWEP) that will be able to address any barriers that hinder the development of these offshore energy facilities. Together with the transmission system operator Elia, several options for connecting the wind turbines to the national grid are being investigated. Key issues are system reliability, system costs, and environmental impacts.

Belwind, C-Power and Eldepasco

3 wind projects join forces in the BNSWEP initiative

Wind/Gas-to-Wire: combining wind energy and natural gas resources

In the East Irish Sea at the English coast, Eclipse Energy is developing the Ormonde project. This project combines offshore wind energy and the gas-to-wire concept. The project will consist of a 108 MW wind farm, situated near two natural gas reservoirs. That gas will be used to generate electricity at an offshore platform with gas turbines (total capacity 93 MW). The combination of wind and gas allows for a more or les constant and controllable supply of electricity to the national grid. On average 60% of the electricity will be produced from wind, and 40% from gas.

Wind/Platform: combining infrastructure

At the Scottish North Sea coast, in the Moray Firth, the platform of the Beatrice oil field will be used as a substation for two 5 MW wind turbines. The platform itself already is connected to the coast by a 33 kV subset electrical cable. The project will be used to demonstrate new technologies for installation of wind turbines in deep water (about 45 meter).

SeaWater Air Conditioning (SWAC)

(Click to enlarge)

Another asset of our seas that is ready to use: Seawater Air Conditioning (SWAC). In this concept low temperature of deep water is used to cool buildings.