LIVE BLOG: Offshore Energy and Navingo Career 2020 Events

17:00 It’s a wrap!

Coert van Zijll Langhout, Managing Director of Navingo BV, and Anne Visser, Director of Operations at Navingo BV, in the company of our event moderator Eva Brouwer, have closed the Offshore Energy 2020 and Navingo Career 2020 events.

After two days packed with interesting sessions, talk shows, interviews, and even more interesting expert speakers, it is safe to say our first virtual edition was a success.

Although the current situation did not allow for the usual face-to-face exhibition and conference, and although we miss a crowded event floor and conference halls – the virtual edition offered some new opportunities we haven’t had before.

Live chats, Q&A options, Matchmaking platform and other virtual “goodies” made this event exactly what we hoped for: a place to attEnd and participate without constraints.

We hope to see you next year at Offshore Energy and Navingo Career events at the RAI Amsterdam.  

16:30 Online Pub Quiz

Get your drinks ready, the Online Pub Quiz is starting!

Organised by Young IRO, the quiz, now in its second edition, will pit you against other offshore energy professionals in a battle of wits.

And the prizes are said to be even better than the last time.

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16:00 Crash course – teaming up with start-ups & scale-ups

Sereina Bal from Buccaneer hosted another session valuble for start-up, with perspectives shared from the angle of start-ups and scale-ups, but established offshore energy players, as well.

Tom Milder, Managing Engineering & Innovation at Jumbo, Karel Roozen, Business Development Next Ocean, and Jonas Brendelberger from zepp.solutions, shared their experiences and views on new companies in the sector and especially using new technogies.

Some of the companies in the offshore energy sector are still conservative when it comes to opting to use new technologies, but they are not hard to reach to. Even if parts of the industry are more conservative, the people there might not be, according to our speakers from companies offering new solutions in the energy market.

Introducing new technology and other new solutions to the market involves testing, validation, showcasing it and then offering it for use.

Some technologies are more easily accepted as they bring new solutions to longstanding issues or alignment with the current push to lower emissions. Still, there are also technologies that are harder to be accepted and positioned in the offshore energy market. Here, enthusiastic people who help tweak and scale the technology, and move it to acceptance by the market are crucial.

From the perspective of an established offshore energy player, Tom Milder from Jumbo said that even though they are not in the start-up mentality, they reach out to new talents which ends up with several innovations in Jumbo per year. Milder compared his company’s strategy in this area with football scouts who are constantly looking for new talent to refresh the team, just as Jumbo scouts the market to find which new developments are suitable for its way of working.

15:50 Maritime Officer Studies – Hogeschool Amsterdam

The Amsterdam student association Nautis (A SV Nautis) is an association for the Maritime Officer students at the University of Applied Sciences Amsterdam.

The goal of A SV Nautis is to create a network connecting students in the Maritime Officer programme during their studies and beyond once they enter the labour market.

The association aims to create a network of broadly oriented students who can be deployed worldwide in the maritime industry after graduation.

Connor Kos, Treasurer and Webmaster of A SV Nautis, joined the Offshore Energy and the Navingo Career event to talk about his experiences as he prepares to take on the high seas and to inspire the next generation of young people to choose this profession and to join the association.

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15:00 Offshore energy start-ups need strong network – A chat at the Energy Plaza

Following the session on the fresh ideas that could help tackle the challenges in the offshore energy sector, Eva Brouwer hosted the moderator Seriena Bal, Managing Director at Buccaneer, at the Energy Plaza.

Sereina Bal presented in more detail on the work Buccaneer does for start-ups in the sector as a scale-up company offering accelerator programmes. Among other things, Bal highlighted the importance of having support from businesses already involved in your sector.

Successful entrepreneurs with today renowned companies had a strong network that supported their growth, and that is what Buccaneer is doing for offshore energy start-ups.

The company can be contacted at any time for checking out the opportunities, Sereina Bal noted, adding that the company will issue a call early next year, when start-ups will be invited to submit their applications.Image

14:30 Fresh Ideas for New Challenges

Digitalisation is taking over all parts of almost all industries and, as much as it has successfully become a part of the offshore energy sector, there are still some big steps to be taken to install and operate offshore infrastructure in a smart way.

This is according to our speakers at the Fresh Ideas for New Challenges talk show, hosted at the Offshore Energy 2020 virtual event by Seriena Bal, Managing Director at Buccaneer.

Matti Basan, Sales Manager Offshore Cranes at Liebherr-Components, Eric van Genuchten, Chief Operating Officer at Sensing360, and Jelte Kymmell, General Manager at Mocean, all agreed on the importance of digitalisation and using data in tackling both the current and upcoming challenges in the offshore energy industry.

However, while some of the industries in the sector such as offshore wind, already rely on the digitalised solution, this is mostly true for the maintenance part of the operations.

According to Jelte Kymmell, marine operations such as installation, and throughout the entire industry, need to work “a bit smarter” by digitalizing.

Working smarter also means basing project planning and calculations on data from different areas that apply to the project and, together with digitalization, realising and operating the projects with less risk involved.

13:35 Talent for Water and Energy – Dutch Wavemakers

Dutch Wavemakers gathers athletes, students, and young professionals to create awareness about the importance of water, energy, and climate change worldwide.

The role of the athletes in the project is to raise awareness about the importance of water and clean energy through their social media platforms, Jelle Westra, a Dutch Wavemaker, said.

One such ambassador for the Dutch Water & Energy sector is Rick Yendrusch, a professional windsurfer and a Dutch Wavemaker who offered his insights during the presentation.

One of the main visions of the Dutch Wavemakers is to inspire young people to choose professions within water management, sustainability, and environment, Westra said.

Another main goal of the project is to get young people to be enthusiastic about water sports.

12:45 Tales of the North Sea

The North Sea is not only a part but the leader of the energy transition.

This is according to a talk show Tales of the North Sea, moderated by Julian Manning, CEO at Paradigm Group, who discussed the offshore energy sector in the North Sea with Sander Vergroesen, Managing Director at IRO, Chris Jones, Head of Business Development at Osbit, and Graham Hacon, Vice President Business Development Offshore Wind at Worely.

The energy transition is going on for a decade now and it will not stop in a year, so it becomes an area where players from the oil and gas industry and renewable energy meet – as we move towards lowering our emissions as much as possible. However, this move needs to be done in a realistic way, recognizing the role oil and gas play now, and building on it with renewable energy and new energy infrastructure such as hydrogen and CCS.

In the North sea, opportunities outside oil and gas are massive for the offshore energy supply chain, from offshore wind which is – in terms of offshore renewables – by far the biggest market now, all the way to green and blue hydrogen, as well as sector coupling. These great next generation technologies will need to be supported by great innovation and equipment, according to the speakers.

12:35 The Young Port Talent (Jong Haventalent)

The Young Port Association (Jong Havenvereniging) is on the lookout for the Young Port Talent (Jong Haventalent), a flagship person and an ambassador for the port industry in Rotterdam.

The Young Port Association is a business network for young maritime, logistics, and port professionals in and around the Port of Rotterdam.

The association gathers over 500 members and is the largest network for young individuals working in the port industry, Tara van de Lagemaat, member of the Young Port Association, said.

‘’Being the Young Port Talent and joining the Young Port Association opens many doors for you,’’ van de Lagemaat said.

The Young Port Talent has been selected annually since 2009. The position is intended for committed and talented young people who perform their work in the port with passion and enthusiasm.

If you or somebody you know is deserving of being the next Young Port Talent, you can go here to submit your nomination.

Three of the nominated candidates will be shortlisted for the position on 5 November. They will then be given a month to collect as many votes as possible via social media.

The Young Port Talent 2021 will then be announced during the Day of the Harbor on Wednesday, 16 December.

The Young Port Talent Foundation is a partnership of the Young Port Association, Watertalent, LINK, and the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

11:15 Size Does Matter: Heavy Lifting

Mathieu Moerman, Head of Marine Projects at SAL Heavy Lift, Wouter van den Bos, CEO at SDC Verifier, and Rene Nijhuis, Global Account Manager at Roll Group have discussed the heavy lifting industry at a live talk show hosed by Robert Plat, Principal Consultant Offshore at Royal IHC.

The offshore energy sector, especially with wind farms and their components getting bigger and bigger, is pushing the limits almost on a daily basis. Given this fact, Robert Plat asked our speakers about the solutions their companies employ to tackle the changes in these sector.

Wouter van den Bos said the solutions come in enhancing current equipment as one part of the equation, and the other part are smart solutions such as SDC’s recently released optimisation tool that does the work engineers would usually do, but the tool now does it for them so engineers could focus on their main tasks. Solutions such as having „digital twin“ technology are an advantage, as having a digital twin of the equipment makes it easier to determine what can be done with which part of equipment.

According to Rene Nijhuis, Roll Group is looking at solutions to optimise shipping and to meet client demand with the upcoming offshore wind market developments, whereas the solutions the company is working on would enable serving the offshore energy sector, including both offshore wind and oil and gas, in an efficient way.

According to Mathieu Moerman, the demand for offshore wind and subsequently client demand in that sector are increasing with turbines and foundations getting larger. While heavy lifting and transport companies’ vessels are reaching the limits, there are advantages in faster vessels. With cargo lifting, SAL is looking into optimising the cranes, as well as making the hooks optimised in a project-specific way.

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10:40 Focusing on marine energy future – A chat at the Energy Plaza

At the Energy Plaza, Pieter Hack of REDstack and the Marine Energy Ambassador of Ocean Energy Europe and a member of DMEC Sander des Tombe discussed the potential of marine energy, put a spotlight on their ambitions for the future.

Hack described his company’s goal of developing and commercialising the reverse electrodialysis technology. Its pilot plant currently powers only several households but in the upcoming phases, Hack said, that that number could rise to as high as 12 per cent of total Dutch electricity needs.

He also stated that cooperation is key and that all companies, as well as countries, are “brothers in arms” and that without it large-scale development would not be possible. Hack also stated that cooperation is needed not only within the marine energy companies but across the entire offshore energy sector.

des Tombe added that his focus with DMEC is more policy minded and that their aim is to support companies with locations for their projects, accelerator projects, and funds.

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10:30 Installing a Miniature Offshore Wind Farm – Skills Session with DOB-Academy

Created by DOB-Academy, this online game is designed to see if you have what it takes to be an offshore wind developer.

In this Skills Session, participants were divided into teams representing companies interested in building an offshore wind farm.

Using the knowledge from a short lecture given in advance, the teams designed and planned the optimal wind farm and installation strategy.

In the second phase of the case, after teams were faced with dilemmas based on the amount of risk taken, the wind farms were built within the given time frame and budget.

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09:45 Marine Goes Green

The day 2 of our virtual event started off with talks on green technologies in the shipping industry.

Robert Plat, Principal Consultant Offshore at Royal IHC, welcomed industry expert speakers Giedo Loeff, Team Leader R&D at Feadship, Harry Linskens, Naval Architect at DEKC Maritime, and our own Jaap Proost – Content Creator & Strategist at Navingo.

The participants discussed the importance for maritime companies to invest in green technologies and what is actually ‘Green Marine’ and where does it stand now.

Speakers initially touched base on how their companies managed the Covid-19 situation.

The talks evolved with getting ship design to the next 20-30 years as well as flexibility and how to adopt different types of ship engines and fuels.

The views were shared on what are the next steps to address the energy transition today in order to prepare for the future.

9:30 – Day 2 of Offshore Energy and Navingo Career events kicks off

The second day of Navingo’s Offshore Energy and Career events has started with an opening talk by Anne Visser, Director of Operations at Navingo, who looked back on the first day (27 October) saying the virtual edition showed to be full of exciting topics.

When it comes to the Navingo Career 2020 event, skills sessions gave insights of what is currently happening in the industry, the impact of COVID-19 on industry but on employment within it as well, and input from various speakers on recruitment itself.

It was also nice to have the Innovation Award winner Daniel Buhagiar, FLASC Founder and CEO, on the spot at the RAI Exhibition Centre, and also to enable this year for the audience to vote for the nominees, along with the jury.

The events’ virtual options are allowing for more interactivity, Anne Visser said, adding that she had a chance to meet some of our visitors through the chat carousel and the matchmaking tool.

The digital platform is also an opportunity to make the event more convenient to visitors out of the CET time zone to join in, with people from Mexico joining our platform later, for example, which is a nice option to have, Anne Visser said.

08:50 The second day of the virtual Offshore Energy 2020 and Navingo Career 2020 events are about to start.

Tune in at 9:30 and attend one of the leading energy events from the coziness of your home!

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17:05 Wrap Up Day 1

The first day of the Offshore Energy 2020 and Navingo Career 2020 is a wrap! After a plethora of important and interesting topics and many expert speakers, we continue tomorrow, 28 October, at the same place. Stay tuned!

16.30 …. and the award for best innovation goes to … FLASC B.V.

The first day of the virtual edition of Offshore Energy 2020 is coming to a close with the award ceremony. The Best Innovation Award highlights the best innovation in the entire offshore energy market in the last two years (2019 and 2020).

Our jury of industry experts, business executives and academics, as well as the votes cast by the general public, selected the Dutch start-up FLASC as the overall winner for its hydro-pneumatic energy storage system.

FLASC’s energy storage technology, tailored for offshore applications, is primarily intended for short- to medium-term energy storage in order to convert an intermittent source of renewable power into a smooth and predictable supply.

The solution addresses a fundamental problem related to the integration of large-scale renewable energy production into conventional energy systems: the mismatch between energy supply and demand.

The award was accepted by FLASC Founder and CEO Daniel Buhagiar.

Other nominees for the Best Innovation Award were Siemens Gamesa for Active Filtering, and Van Oord for Slip Joint Connection which both presented their innovations before the winner was unveiled.

12:45 Future of Energy Transition

Peter Scheijgrond from MET-support led a very interesting talk show at our event today, hosting Sicco Kamminga, Director at Nortek BV, Daniel Buhagiar, CEO FLASC B.V., and Willem van Leeuwen, Project Manager Services Damen.

Next-generation solutions in the offshore energy sector, along with the energy production infrastructure itself, include Damen’s new virtual platform, Nortek’s acoustic doppler, and FLASC’s storage device.

The solutions are aimed to bring advantage and help with existing obstacles, especially in the offshore renewables industries, as the energy transition moves forward.

From Nortek’s technology, tidal energy is one of the areas that can benefit and already have as the company has cooperated with tidal turbine developers. FLASC sees a wide-spanning market for the use of its storage solutions, mainly in offshore wind as one of the biggest offshore renewable energy industries.

In terms of installation and other vessels that support the offshore energy sector, Damen’s virtual solution brings benefits to vessel operators and, among other things in the closer future, the company sees artificial intelligence and machine learning as something that will be part of the business as usual.

11:50 – Harness the power of water to solve our energy problems

More talks at the Energy Plaza. Our host talked with Peter Scheijgrond, Director of MET-support, which Eva Brouwer described as the “main marine energy man”.

During the short sit-down, Scheijgrond stated that power created by offshore wind and the sun must be used in order to reach environmental goals but added that harnessing the power of water would solve all our energy problems.

He further said that marine energy, as well as offshore wind, have to cooperate with oil and gas since most of the expertise still lies there and since many oil and gas operators are turning towards renewable sources.

When asked about which projects he was most excited about, he pointed out core power which has the potential to make marine energy more affordable.

“Best energy storage is the energy that does not need storage”, Scheijgrond said, referring to tidal energy which is independent of weather, unlike wind. He also said that at the moment the Netherlands has five tidal turbines in operating which are powering a 1,000 households.

11:15 – Marine Energy: The Next Big Thing in Energy

The moderator Peter Scheijgrond, Director at MET-Support, kicked off a talk show on marine energy as the next big thing in energy, with guest speakers Andries van Unen, CEO of Tocardo; Richard Parkinson, CEO of Inyanga-Tech; Patrik Möller, CEO of CorPower Ocean; and Kim Nielsen, Wave Energy Consultant at Ramboll.

The speakers discussed how marine energy fits in the future energy mix and the various possibilities available for the sector to complement other energy-generating technologies.

The focus was on the predictability of tidal and wave energy – and how that quality can balance other intermittent renewable energy resources such as offshore wind.

Andries van Unen spoke about small-scale tidal energy projects, and the possibility of integrating tidal energy plants into coastal and flood-defence barriers. Kim Nielsen also suggested the integration of wave energy into floating flood barriers, while Richard Parkinson spoke about floating tidal energy solutions and the production of hydrogen whereby ‘90% of risks and 50% of costs associated with subsea and dynamic cabling necessary for grid connection could be avoided if they were rerouted directly to establishing green hydrogen plants backed by tidal energy generation’.

11:00 Preparations for world champion solar boat team – A chat at the Energy Plaza

In a live interview via Zoom, a member of the 2019 World Championship winning TU Delft Solar Boat Team announced their plans for the upcoming race in Monaco in 2021 and the development of new technologies for the competitive solar racing boats as well as hydrogen-powered boats.

10:50 Taiwan the place to be – A chat at the Energy Plaza

At the Energy Plaza, host Eva Brouwer discussed safe rope access and gangway systems with Wijnand van Aalst, the CEO of Safeway. Mr. van Aalst talked about his company’s turn towards offshore wind using the example of DONG Energy – now Orsted.

He also talked about Taiwan being the place to be as companies and the government are investing in offshore wind and that Safeway can apply their experience from the North Sea to the Taiwanese offshore wind market.

9:45 The future of fair and bias-free recruitment

At a Navingo Career skills session at our first virtual event, hosted by Ivo Winkes, Partner LTP Online, and our Coco Kossmann, once again offshore wind – and especially the growing industry in the North Sea countries – got most of the attention, with recruitment drive rapidly increasing in this sector.

We saw a few presentations, such as from a Superintendant at Boskalis, and lots of success stories from the energy world. Videos showing the complexity of tasks and jobs offshore energy employees are skilled to take on paint quite a picture of what skills and expertise are needed.

9:45 Focus on Offshore Wind

The first live talk at the virtual Offshore Energy 2020 event talked about offshore wind, but not only that. As we move to a more clean-energy-oriented world, cross-market collaboration and system integration get more attention.

Moderated by Erwin Cooler, Owner at ECHT, the session hosted expert speakers Marcel van Bergen, Director Offshore Heavy Lifting at Boskalis, Wijnand van Aalst, CEO at Van Aalst, Benjamin Lehner, Business & Innovation Advisor at DMEC, Diederick Nierstrasz, Business Development Manager Wind at Ampelmann.

Our speakers gave an insight in the burning topics and issues of the offshore wind industry and the closely connected energy transition, with marine spatial planning and support from other offshore renewables as one of the main points in the way to move forward.

9:30 – Welcome to Offshore Energy 2020, Home of Energy Transition.

Our virtual exhibition and conference floor has just opened, with live conference sessions, showcase videos from our exhibitors, matchmaking programme – which seems to be attracting more people than expected – and many, many other features which you can access from the convenience of your home.

Bookmark this Live Blog page to stay tuned and follow the updates from conference sessions taking place throughout these two days!

Coert van Zijll Langhout, Managing Director of Navingo BV, and Anne Visser, Director of Operations at Navingo BV, just opened the event. Looking forward to seeing you all virtually!

With numerous Live Talk Shows, Show Cases, Energy Talks by experts, Live Interviews, Matchmaking, a digital Pub Quiz and lot more, this year’s edition promises to be an energetic, fruitful, and inspiring event, again.

Do you also want to be a part of this leading event? Register today!
Find your personal link to enter the event in your email.

Enough said about the challenges and limitations that covid poses to all of us and our industry. Much can be done –  especially online – to connect with your peers and have experts inform you about the latest ideas and technologies. At OEEC’s first virtual edition, all this and more is possible.

OEEC creates the perfect opportunity for people working in the offshore energy industry to establish new business relationships and maintain existing ones.

You can expect plenty of interaction, information, presentations and innovations, lots of which will be live-streamed. Offshore Energy built a studio in RAI Amsterdam from which talk shows and discussions will be recorded and broadcasted.

Simultaneously, the Navingo Career Event also takes place online, presenting career opportunities in the maritime, offshore and energy sector. Participants can attend both virtual events.

Meet, share knowledge and get to know each other with the Navingo Matchmaking programme. Every participant has free access to the basic features of this proven network tool. If you like it, you can upgrade to  Full Event Access  or even to  Year-Round Access, so you can keep networking long after the event.

On the 27th of October, 16.30 the winner of the Best Innovation Award will be announced. There will also be a short Q&A session with the winner.

You can register for free at registration.offshore-energy.biz

Let’s connect!