Cross-border innovation at sea: exploring multi-energy solutions
On 6 March, the SWiM project partners came together to discuss just that. With key input from Offshore For Sure partners, the workshop focused on the practical and policy challenges of combining renewables offshore — from permitting to tender criteria and the Marine Spatial Plan.
Offshore For Sure (O4S) | 29/10/2025
Tackling key challenges
Offshore innovation is no easy task. Balancing technology, regulation, and sustainability at sea demands collaboration and creativity. That’s exactly what the recent SWiM workshop set out to achieve — exploring the challenges of permitting and tendering for integrating offshore solar panels into existing wind farms.
By bringing together policy, business, and environmental perspectives, the event aims to generate practical policy advice for the Belgian government.
Offshore For Sure Partners DWP and FLASC showcase the real-world progress of offshore Innovation
Dutch Wave Power (DWP) and FLASC, both partners of the Offshore For Sure consortium, demonstrated how innovative ideas are becoming real-world solutions.
Dutch Wave Power (DWP)
Dutch Wave Power is developing and testing a 20kWp prototype wave energy converter (WEC) in the North Sea.
Sten Swanenberg shared updates from their Scheveningen deployment, showing how wave energy can complement wind and solar — especially as onshore solar markets face growing saturation.
FLASC
FLASC is the first utility-scale energy storage solution tailored for co-location with offshore wind farms.
Andrew Borg focused on flexibility, presenting advanced offshore energy storage technology designed to strengthen the energy system. Their next steps include achieving grid compliance with DNV (TRL 8) and scaling up deployment by 2030.
Collaboration across the Blue Cluster
The session was co-moderated by Lara Bracke and Efrain Carpintero Moreno from UGent. Thanks to the thoughtful input from IMDC, and Parkwind - all partners in O4S - discussions came alive as participants explored key questions
- How can we balance innovation, affordability, and system robustness in uncertain marine environments?
- And how can Belgium’s offshore zone evolve from a space for experimentation into a dynamic platform for multi-energy interaction?
Crossing Borders
The SWiM workshop served as a cross-border demonstration-activity for O4S, where our Belgian and Dutch partners came together to show how offshore wind, floating solar, wave energy and energy storage can reinforce one another. Organised by The Blue Cluster and joined by five O4S project partners from both countries, the event combined practical demonstrations with open exchange. Participants experienced how innovation at sea takes shape when knowledge crosses borders.
More workshops to come
Led by the Blue Cluster and supported by an active group of partners, SWiM is developing models to evaluate floating solar performance, assess environmental impacts, and define anchoring and site selection criteria. Through ongoing workshops and stakeholder engagement, the project will translate these insights into concrete policy advice — helping shape a smarter, more resilient offshore energy future.
