Projects

Croatia and Slovenia, two neighboring countries located along the Adriatic coast, want to jointly focus more on innovation to support the digital and green transition of the maritime sector. In doing so, they rely on best practices from Flanders.

Wind and waves cause structural vibrations in offshore structures. The dampener system that deals with this brings about forced active power oscillations, which can lead to grid instability. The partners in the FOOS project investigate this phenomenon.

Offshore wind turbines are subject to varying loads from wind and waves. This results in fatigue of the structures and a finite lifespan. The partners in FIRMEST develop forecasting tools so as to better estimate the lifespan of existing and future wind turbines.

The partners in the BERNARDO project examine the potential of marine carbon for a sustainable blue economy. Within this scope, they draw up a comprehensive carbon budget for the Belgian North Sea for the very first time.

To limit global warming, active research is being conducted into ways to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Blue Alkalinity project examines the possibility of storing CO2 from the air in the sea by increasing the alkalinity of the seawater.

Autonomous shipping is under full development worldwide. There are many reasons for this: autonomous shipping is, among other things, more efficient, safer and more sustainable. The DDSHIP project examines existing technologies to achieve more accurate and reliable control over the ship.

Over the past decades, Belgium has built a strong reputation in the development of offshore wind energy. Now the country also wants to play a leading role in the development of offshore solar energy. The partners in the SWiM project rise up to the challenge.

In the T-shore project, thirteen partners from five countries are working together to establish a European network of training centres in offshore wind energy. The aim is to provide high-quality training courses for the sector in an innovative way.

Wind turbines in Belgium provide green energy for an average of 25 years. Despite our pioneering role in the installation, use and maintenance of wind farms, we lack the experience to dismantle wind turbines sustainably and professionally. The Ready4Decom project aims to change that.

Researchers are attempting to combine multiple forms of energy generation and multiple activities at one and the same location at sea. The Test@Sea project therefore focuses on expanding the available testing infrastructure further out at sea.

In the wake of a wind turbine, turbulence is created and the wind loses a lot of its power. This is called the wake effect. Cloud4wake aims to better explore the wake effects in wind farms, so that adverse effects can be addressed and the wind farms’ business case can be improved.

Natural solutions are increasingly used to protect our coasts from the ferocity of the sea. However, a lot of sand needs to be extracted for such solutions, which affects the marine ecosystem. SUSANA aims to map both ecosystems and the effects they experience.