Seabased Presents Investment Case for Wave Power at World Ocean Council Sustainable Ocean Summit
Seabased CEO Laurent Albert spoke about wave power at the opening plenary session of the 2019 World Ocean Council Sustainable Ocean Summit on the 20th of November. Invited to join a panel of CEOs from a range of ocean industries, Mr. Albert shared the company’s vision on the importance of including wave power in the energy mix. He argued that doing so would facilitate better grid integration of renewable energy, and made special note of the benefits of combining wave power with offshore wind.
Three representatives of Seabased participated in this year´s Summit, which was focused on the theme of Investing in Ocean Futures: Finance and Innovation for the Blue Economy. The three-day summit was held in Paris from 20-22 November.
“For this high-level audience of public and private investors and executives from across the ocean sector, we focused especially on the advantages of pairing wave with offshore wind. The combination results in power production synergies that are quite advantageous for the grid, and that in turn means we can achieve higher renewable energy targets,” explains Mr. Albert.
In addition to the plenary remarks, Seabased organized a well-attended session on the investment case for Marine Renewable Energy on the 22nd of November. The panel included executives from leading European companies and organizations in the ocean energy sector, moderated by CEO Britta Schaffmeister of the Dutch Marine Energy Centre. In keeping with the conference theme, the 90-minute session focused on the investment needs and opportunities in order to scale-up ocean energy.
Seabased CEO Laurent Albert speaks at session on the investment case for Ocean Energy
Sector representatives Dr. Henry Jeffrey, Chairman of the IEA Technology Collaboration program Ocean Energy Systems (OES), and Rémi Gruet, CEO of the European industry organization Ocean Energy Europe (OEE) spoke first, followed by executives from four ocean energy related technology companies. Seabased’s CEO Laurent Albert presented the investment case for wave power using Seabased technology; Commercial Director Jean-Christophe Allo, of Sabella represented tidal; Research Director Dr. Brigitte Vlasvinkel of Oceans of Energy represented floating solar; and VP Sales and Development Julian Marchal of Naval Energies spoke about OTEC. The panelists spoke with a highly engaged audience, fielding a wide range of questions.
“There was wide agreement among panelists that while each ocean energy technology has its own strengths, the case for combining multiple technologies is very compelling. In addition to grid integration advantages, solutions which involve shared infrastructure can reduce costs and contribute to even more effective use of sea space,” reflects Mr. Albert.