Our partners
The project brings together six partners from research, policy and industry.
The project will be guided by an Advisory Board with ten members from industry active in the marine space and renewable energies.
KU Leuven – EnergyVille
On top of existing broad know-how in marine structural design, KU Leuven/EnergyVille has gained significant expertise in OFPV over the past two years, not least through the MarineSPOTS ETF project. The electrical backbone of renewable energy systems, both in terms of power electronic converters and power system integration, forms part of their background, as do grid design and market aspects.
Engie Laborelec
Laborelec has broad expertise in renewables and electrical systems and infrastructure, including offshore wind, solar energy, energy storage, power conversion systems and electric cable testing. The Laborelec renewables team has been conducting internal research projects – sponsored by ENGIE Research&Innovation – on offshore wind and floating PV for several years, is responsible for monitoring the OFPV pilot Seavolt and already studied the potential integration of OFPV into a Dutch wind farm.
Blue Cluster
With a sustainable blue economy as its core business, Blue Cluster has built up considerable expertise in (international) marine policy and gives advice to policy makers based on the experience of innovative technologies in its projects. They are involved in various innovative projects dealing with multi-use of marine spaces as well as Marine Spatial Planning, and provide a strong link to the business community.
The Institute of Natural Sciences
RBINS possesses significant expertise in marine ecology, covering hydrodynamic and biogeochemical modelling, experimental work, and field studies. This positions them well for the quantification of environmental impacts related to OFPV, and anthropogenic activity at seas more generally. The competencies on these topics were established in several previous research projects.
imec
Imec/EnergyVille runs and develops a physics-based energy yield modelling framework allowing to calculate the energy yield of several integrated-PV applications as a function of environmental conditions and installation constraints. By extending a model established in the MarineSPOTS project, the energy system will build further on degradation models for PV systems under different stressors, which can be refined with the unique environment of OFPV.
UHasselt
UHasselt/EnergyVille has broad expertise in the domain of energy systems reliability within the department imo-imomec, in collaboration with imec. In previous projects, this research group worked on reliability modelling and testing of solar modules and power electronic systems under different thermal, mechanical and electrical stresses, as well as PV system design, in-situ sensing and energy optimisation.
KU Leuven – EnergyVille
Role
KU Leuven is lead partner of the SWiM project. On top of existing broad expertise in marine structural design and the electrical backbone of renewable energy systems (both in terms of power electronic converters and power system integration), KU Leuven has gained significant expertise in OFPV over the past two years, mainly through the MarineSPOTS project. Therein the state of the art regarding floating structures to support OFPV and high-level electrotechnical approaches to the internal electrical conversion system and grid integration of large-scale OFPV systems were assessed. Through SWiM, KU Leuven aims to broaden this expertise, particularly in mooring and anchoring approaches, design of safe and reliable electrical energy conversion systems, placement and sizing, and cost-efficient grid integration of large-scale OFPV systems. Further, KU Leuven aims to gain insights regarding the integration of energy storage or electrical synthesis of molecules offshore, in particular to assess where and under which conditions these solutions can be implemented.
About
Founded in 1425, KU Leuven boasts fourteen campuses spread across 10 cities in Flanders, and consistently ranks among the top 100 universities in the world by major ranking tables. It is a founding member of the EnergyVille collaboration, which develops technology and knowledge to support public and private stakeholders in the transition to an energy efficient, decarbonised and sustainable environment. As an energy R&D innovation hub located in the industry-oriented ecosystem of the Thor Park (Genk, Belgium), EnergyVille offers an attractive environment for energy research and industrial product development.
The Electrical Energy Systems and Applications (ELECTA) division of the Department of Electrical Engineering conducts research into the broad spectrum of electrical energy systems. The development of the future smart grid is a key activity where fundamental research is combined with immediately and prospectively applicable solutions for the industry. ELECTA is partner in the EnergyVille research consortium between the Flemish research partners KU Leuven, VITO, imec and UHasselt in the field of sustainable energy and intelligent energy systems.
In the Department of Civil Engineering, the Hydraulics and Geotechnics section and the Structural Mechanics section contribute their expertise in structural design and geotechnical aspects, particularly in mooring dynamic, wave loading, and anchoring approaches. This includes research on innovative materials, structural health monitoring, and the development of advanced computational models to predict structural behaviour under various conditions, considering both static and dynamic loads. Their work is crucial in ensuring the safety and reliability of infrastructure, particularly in challenging environments. The Hydraulics and Geotechnics Section specializes in the study of fluid dynamics, soil mechanics, and their interactions. This includes research on coastal and river engineering, groundwater flow, and the stability of slopes and foundations. Their expertise is applied to projects involving flood protection, sustainable water management, and the development of resilient infrastructure in response to climate change.
Engie Laborelec
Role
About
Laborelec, an entity of the ENGIE Group, is a leading centre of expertise and research in the area of electrical energy. Drawing on the skills of 375 specialist engineers and technicians, it provides operational support, technical consulting, and applied R&D services, operating across the entire electricity value chain. Its services support a wide range of customers in electricity generation, transmission, distribution, storage, and end-use, with a particular focus on the energy transition and net zero carbon. Laborelec, now part of ENGIE’s Research & Innovation division, is a global player active in more than 60 countries and has offices in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Blue Cluster
Role
Blue Cluster is the first point of contact as well as the main discussion partner for companies, policy makers, research institutes and NGOs 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.
About
Blue Cluster is a Belgium-based not-for profit cluster organisation 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 recognised by the Flemish government as a spearhead cluster since 2018 and have been a structural partner of Flanders Investment & Trade since 2023. Blue Cluster has approximately 180 members and partners.
The Institute of Natural Sciences
Role
In SWIM, two RBINS teams will focus on the functional ecology of these suspension feeding organisms and how they affect the balance between the intensity of ecological functions. The MARECOM team is mostly involved in the measurement of ecological rates and processes at local scales, while the ECOMOD team will incorporate such knowledge in a 3D oceanic model to upscale the impact of solar energy deployment at the North Sea scale.
About
The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) is a group of experts, researchers and government advisers supported by a modern research infrastructure. It boasts the third-largest natural sciences collection in Europe and a major Belgian heritage institution. It is one of the most visited museums in Belgium.
RBINS has a long historical record of multidisciplinary research activity in the North Sea. Since the earliest developments of offshore renewable energy in Belgian waters, RBINS has been actively involved in guiding monitoring frameworks, building a knowledge base for environmental impact assessment, and ultimately in providing science-based recommendations for environmental policy and marine spatial planning. The early start of offshore renewable activity in Belgium, and the close collaboration that has been ensured between its industrial, policy and research actors, have made RBINS a scientific reference in the field, recognized worldwide.
The proliferation of offshore structures induces a new type of habitat, hard surfaces, into a world of water and sand. This new habitat is known to be colonised rapidly by a so-called hard substrate fauna that is new to the environment, and affects the ecological functioning of that environment, amongst others because of their feeding behaviour that consist of removing particles from the water column (i.e. suspension feeding).
imec
Role
Text to be received
About
With over 5,500 employees from all over the world, top scientists and experts in various research disciplines, a highly advanced R&D infrastructure, and an extensive partner network of world leaders from the high-tech industry, pharma, IT and other sectors, Flemish and international companies, start-ups, academia and knowledge centers, imec is the world’s largest independent research centre in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Imec’s research includes advanced semiconductor technology and silicon photonics, solutions for smart healthcare, sustainable energy, sustainable mobility and smart cities, artificial intelligence, 5G communications and sensor technologies, and much more.
Imec also uses its expertise and industrial network to create sustainable social impact in Flanders. In this way, imec supports both smaller organisations with limited R&D resources and larger companies in their innovation processes. As a strategic research center and active player in network organisations and sector federations, imec contributes to the innovation network in Flanders by bringing together the public and private sectors in Flanders, facilitating the exchange of open data and stimulating knowledge exchange.
Imec is headquartered in Leuven, has research groups spread across Flemish universities, in the Netherlands and the US, and is represented on 3 continents. In 2023, imec’s revenues amounted to 941 million euros.
UHasselt
Role
Text to be received
About
Imo-imomec is a joint research institute of Hasselt University and imec where chemists, physicists and engineers conduct multidisciplinary materials research. We focus on advanced material systems for a sustainable and healthy society. Our core domains are energy conversion, energy storage, sustainable materials, sensors & healthcare materials and quantum technologies.
As a civic university, we assume our responsibility, commit ourselves and share our knowledge in ways that benefit society. Strong public engagement was, is and always will be at the core of who we are and what we do. Our students, staff, researchers and alumni are both able and willing to make our society smarter, more agile and better. Today’s and tomorrow’s challenges guide our teaching, research and social engagement. Innovation is a constant in everything we do..