The site
We are used to think of a “lab” as a room with white walls, clean tables, scientists going around in white gowns and technological equipment all over the place. But the offshore test site does not look like this at all: it is a stretch of open sea divided in six plots, with some small facilities on site, 12km off the coast of of The Hague.
The essential part of making a change, is to act. That is why North Sea Farmers initiated this North Sea offshore test site: an offshore incubator & independent test site for research, pilots and the upscaling of innovations in the field of seaweed cultivation and co-use of offshore wind farms. The offshore test site is accessible for everybody who wants to pilot new technologies or test blue innovations for upscaling, such as co-use of wind farms. If you want to start commercial activity offshore, this is the place to start.
The challenges
Some challenges need to be faced, as offshore production implies higher costs, especially in difficult environmental conditions such as in the North Sea. And this is where UNITED comes into play: activities will be aimed at developing economically viable and technically feasible cultivation in this environment, and at demonstrating that it can be integrated in wind farms. Some tests have been conducted in the past at the offshore test site, but this is the first time that a commercial enterprise – the Seaweed Company – is testing seaweed production in offshore conditions.