Second Research meeting North Sea as an Energy Region
During the second research agenda meeting of New Energy Coalition researchers of the University of Groningen and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, together with representatives of industrial and societal organizations discussed research challenges that lie ahead of us in energy transition on North Sea as an Energy Region. Its aim was to gather input on the Research Agenda to guide innovation and the development of future scientific projects.
Tijs Wilbrink of Topsector Energie pitched about digitalisation and artificial intelligence in the North Sea Region. Robbert-Jan Slobben (Research coordinator New Energy Coalition) presented the North Sea as an Energy Region part of our research agenda, which was commented on by the participants.
In the subsequent working session, everyone was invited to brainstorm based on strategic challenges from the attending business partners. This helped them to get a so-called ‘science check’, in which they examined whether knowledge already exists to answer the strategic questions and which knowledge still needs to be developed and on which timeline this can be done.
The discussions resulted in valuable insights, such as:
- Creating a balance between all the elements involved in the North Sea, such as social costs and benefits, and international institutional frameworks can contribute to keeping the North Sea an attractive area;
- (Inter)national collaboration is needed to determine (political) ownership of the North Sea and responsibilities and to create a strong network;
- In order to enable large scale production of offshore renewable energy we need to create a new business model for offshore generated wind energy in the North Sea.
The next steps
We will process the input of the working sessions into our research agenda and send the final draft of the agenda to the Foundation Board of New Energy Coalition for approval and to the participants with a cover sheet explaining how we processed the input into the final draft of this agenda.
Starting in January 2020, we will draw up an inventory of potential research projects; consortia formation; and project development together with researchers and business and societal partners. In due time we will inform you on the process of project development. In the meantime, we invite you to contact us if you have ideas for project development.
