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Projects

Offshore wind: competence development 

Access to engineers with adequate backgrounds has been flagged as one of the strongest concerns by the Offshore Wind Resource Group.  

There is a lack of engineers graduating from Norwegian universities with the necessary background to tender and execute the upcoming offshore wind projects. This has created the need for Norwegian companies to headhunt engineers abroad.  

Companies with a traditional oil and gas portfolio are now entering the offshore wind market and will benefit from keeping their experience workforce, they have flagged that they do not have enough resources by themselves to offer a competence development program, such as geotechnical engineers and civil engineers from the construction industry can also benefit from this initiative. 

The goal of this project is to map the competence gap in the current workforce and future graduates; and propose a competence development system to fill it. 

Establishing a competence development plan will help engineers with different backgrounds, such as oil & gas, construction, and other energy industries to adapt their capabilities to the new offshore wind job market. 

During the first phase of this project, we will map the competence needed for owners, developers and tier 1 suppliers to successfully enter the offshore wind industry. 

  • Evaluate the different educational options that need to be improved or developed to provide the industry with the necessary competent workforce.  

This includes dialogue with the educational institutions in Norway and abroad, as well as a cooperation plan between the industrial players to establish a common platform for competence development.  

Establishing a competence development plan will help engineers with different backgrounds, such as oil & gas, construction, and other energy industries to adapt their capabilities to the new offshore wind job market. 

The Offshore Wind Resource Group: Equinor, Aker OffshoreWind, Aker Solutions, ABB, TechnipFMC, Seagust, Force Technology, Schlumberger, SEB, Hafslund Eco, Fred Olsen Renewables, Statkraft, Hydro REIN, NOV, Wilhelmsen, Konsberg Maritime and Nexans.  

Collaboration with Norwegian universities, such as NTNU, UiO, BI, and USN.  

Daniel Miravalles Diez

Head of Business and Development

E-mail: daniel.miravalles@energyvalley.com

Ph: +47 45 17 08 39

The Ocean of Tomorrow  

Together with the Viken Technology Cluster and SAMS, Energy Valley has taken the initiative for the project “The Ocean of Tomorrow”. The three clusters complement each other and can facilitate new value propositions and value chains. The starting point for the collaboration is the EU project Horizon 2020 Green Offshore Tech aimed at SMEs. 

The purpose is to support innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises and promote the development of the emerging Blue Economy industries through cross-sectoral and cross-border value chains based on common challenges and the deployment of key technologies. 

The project will contribute to building new expertise on that which already exists in the three clusters and connect this with the opportunities in the Green Offshore Tech project. The result will be new technology, new products, increased market knowledge, and an increased international network for the cluster companies.  

Daniel Miravalles Diez

Head of Business and Development

E-mail: daniel.miravalles@energyvalley.com

Ph: +47 45 17 08 39

Estonia-Norway Visionary Report 

Norway and Estonia are small countries but have both demonstrated important capabilities on a global scene. Estonia is a dynamic reformer with the use of digital technologies, and Norway is a major energy producer and maritime nation.  

The Russian aggression and full-scale invasion of Ukraine have dramatically changed the security situation in our Nordic-Baltic region. More than ever, close partners and neighbors Estonia and Norway must establish closer cooperation to support the green transition towards an economy based on sustainable and climate-neutral energy.  

The Visionary Report will aim to identify best policy practices, untapped business opportunities or possible bottlenecks, and joint research cooperation in the fields of renewable energy and green transition.  

  • Renewable energy technologies, including storage (pumped storage, hydrogen, etc) 
  • Social acceptance of green transition and new energy plants 
  • Green transition in the transport sector (promoting electric transport, hydrogen in transport) 
  • Management of national resources to increase national welfare (oil and gas in Norway, critical minerals in Estonia) 
  • Energy efficiency, including digitalization, demand, and response 
  • CCS 

Our aim is a more integrated and sustainable Nordic-Baltic region. 

The report will be presented before the Norwegian and Estonian prime ministers Jonas Gahr Støre and Kaja Kallas in January 2023 Energy Valley will also organize a Norwegian energy delegation of businesses to go to Estonia in 2023.   

Elisabeth Skarbø Moen

e-mail: elisabeth.s.moen@energyvalley.com
Ph: +47 91 33 51 03

Hydrogen Valley

Energy Valley has joined the Northern European Alliance for Sustainability to work on speeding up hydrogen strategies across Europe, development actions, and establishing the first, large-scale interregional hydrogen valley in Europe.  

The Northern European Alliance for Sustainability consists of members from seven Northern European countries, i.e., Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Scotland/UK, and Sweden. 

The Northern European Alliance for Sustainability recently applied for Horizon funding for the hydrogen project BalticSeaH2. If funded the project will establish the first, large-scale interregional hydrogen valley in Europe, and develop an international hydrogen economy and markets that work optimally both from the technical, economic, and environmental perspectives across country borders in Northern Europe, more specifically around the Baltic Sea. 

The project proposal includes investment and demonstration projects, innovation capacities across borders for all parts of the hydrogen value network, developing system optimization and advanced sector coupling, as well as suggesting actions for shaping the common operating environment to enable the implementation of a full hydrogen economy in the future. 

The Northern European Alliance has produced the paper “The Northern European Hydrogen Opportunity” – which captures the opportunities through cooperation, calls for fast implementation of the hydrogen strategies across Europe, and suggests concrete actions to speed up the process. 

Read the full paper here.  

Daniel Miravalles Diez

Head of Business and Development

E-mail: daniel.miravalles@energyvalley.com

Ph: +47 45 17 08 39

Hydrogen: dialogue platform 

In 2021, a resource group for hydrogen was established. The market for hydrogen is still very immature, and there is a need for both national and international positioning and cooperation to solve this challenge.  

In autumn 2021, it was decided to start such a project in collaboration with the Norwegian Hydrogen Cluster and the World Energy Council. Energy Valley represents the World Energy Council in Norway and has access to global arenas for initiatives within hydrogen.

This project aims to bring the voice of the Norwegian industry to the WEC, and keep the Norwegian industry updated with the WEC initiatives. In Europe through Hydrogen Europe, and nationally with cooperation between the Norwegian companies, with the Hydrogen Resource Group, and clusters, such as the Norwegian Hydrogen Cluster and Aerospace Valley.  

Through activities with the Hydrogen Research Group the project aims to:  

  •  Understand the hydrogen potential by identifying and accelerating the fundamental development of promising technologies.  
  • Inform key stakeholders and the public about technology options and potential pathways to a low-carbon future.  
  • Explore the supply-demand potential from a demand-centric perspective.  
  • Accelerate the market based on the mentioned demand-centric perspective.  
  • Assess how different national strategies can complement each other.  
  • Understand barriers and enablers to hydrogen development at a large scale.  

According to reports from the World Energy Council, IEA, Acil Allen Report, BP and the Hydrogen Council, a comparative assessment of existing hydrogen demand estimates to 2050 shows significant variation with the limited but steady growth of hydrogen demand until 2030 as infrastructure is developed.  

By 2050, the estimates vary significantly between an equivalent of 6 to 25% of total final energy consumption dependent on underlying assumptions. By achieving the goals of this project, we push towards the 25% scenario.  

Accelerating the development of the hydrogen industry will serve as a job creator.

  • Quarterly meetings with the resource group  
  • Collaboration with the World Energy Council 
  • Workshop addressing the main concerns identified in the resource group 

Daniel Miravalles Diez

Head of Business and Development

E-mail: daniel.miravalles@energyvalley.com

Ph: +47 45 17 08 39