OWI-Lab
Judith Ooms
Business Developer, EnerGhentIC
Pieter Jan Jordaens
Program manager
Energy Transition Industry, Sirris
Offshore energy research is an important domain within EnerGhentIC. Not only do we have a great deal of expertise and ongoing research in this topic, but we are also strongly interconnected with other knowledge institutions, policy makers and industrial partners in the field of offshore energy. This is largely the result of our OWI-Lab partnership.
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OWI-Lab stands for On- and Offshore Wind Infrastructure Application Lab. It is a close collaboration between the wind energy experts within Sirris, VUB and Ghent University. In OWI-Lab, we aim to initiate, support and execute R&D and innovation projects leading to efficient, reliable and cost-effective wind energy. Through technology expertise & infrastructure, innovation support services and international collaboration we support our Belgian wind energy sector to be a worldwide industry leader.
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For us, the added-value of participation in OWI-Lab is considerable. It allows us to strengthen our collaborations with the other main knowledge partners in Flanders in the domain of wind energy thereby further developing our expertise. Moreover, through OWI-Lab, we can profile us as a strong multidisciplinary wind energy team with one gateway to a broad range of expertise for both industrial players and policy makers – on both a national and international level. Through the yearly industrial advisory boards and continuous bilateral interactions, a very short link to our industrial counterparts is guaranteed.
With OWI-Lab, we seek to be a leading expertise center which supports (international) innovation in the wind energy sector. We do so by backing-up the full Belgian wind energy value chain (from development to decommissioning phase) with ‘industry driven’ Research, Development & Innovation actions. We moreover provide access to testing and demonstration opportunities in real environments.
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OWI-Lab consists of three knowledge partners, working closely together: Ghent University, VUB and Sirris. Each of these brings their topnotch and complementary expertise to the consortium. The Ghent University expertise on, among others, coastal engineering, hydrodynamics, fatigue and corrosion, cable monitoring, offshore geotechnics, etc. is a crucial asset in our portfolio to offer our OWI-Lab stakeholders.
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Through the multiple interactions between the OWI-Lab partners on the one hand, and with the industrial partners on the other hand, we work on the alignment of a common innovation roadmap whereby our expertise is determining to enable future innovation in the wind energy sector. Hereby we are implementing our vision, which is to ensure that companies in the Belgian wind energy sector strengthen their competitiveness to become and remain ‘top-end’ in the international wind energy industry through knowledge and innovation.
“The EnerGhentIC offshore wind expertise is a crucial asset in our portfolio to offer our OWI-Lab stakeholders”
Pieter Jan Jordaens,
Program Manager Energy Transition Industry Sirris