Offshore For Sure partners meet at the birthplace of Ecopower
On Thursday, 26 March, O4S partners met in Rotselaar for the sixth Partnership Meeting.
Offshore For Sure (O4S) | 09/04/2026
The watermill at Rotselaar is where Ecopower began, thanks to a community-funded renovation. Dirk Vansintjan's initiative led to its founding by him and three others. Today, Ecopower is Europe's largest cooperative with over 70,000 participants. They're a solid partner in Offshore For Sure (O4S), reviewing our business cases from a cooperative investor's view.
On Thursday, 26 March, O4S partners met in Rotselaar for the sixth Partnership Meeting. The group reviewed progress, set priorities, and discussed next steps as the project enters a key phase.
The day started with updates on project progress and finances. Partners noted the value of closer teamwork, knowledge sharing, and leveraging expertise among the partners. A main point of discussion: moving from technology development to market readiness and commercialization, so innovations can attract investment and scale.
Pilot Projects Update
The five pilots remain core to O4S. Discussions covered planning, milestones, and support needs.
- Water2Energy prepares for redeployment at Vlissingen, working through permitting.
- FLASC and Tocardo advance their digital twin development.
- DWP is progressing on the construction and preparing for installation
- Oceans of Energy moves forward with redesign and further derisking and testing.
Partners emphasized the importance of risk mitigation, realistic planning, and collaborative support.
ICOE OEE 2026 as final event
Prepations are on the way for the International Conference on Ocean Energy Ocean Energy Europe (ICOE OEE), the project's end event. Plans include:
- Scientific abstracts on results
- A side event for stakeholders
- Site visits for to see the pilot project
Skills and Future Steps
Talks covered:
- Building a regional skills partnership for offshore energy as part of the EU Pact for Skills
- Expanding training though a series of masterclasses hosted by World Class Maintenance, HOWEST and Gent University.
The Rotselaar meeting re-inforced the O4S collaboration and planning for upcoming deliverables. Thanks to Michiel van Aken and Dirk Vansintjan for hosting us!
