As a market leader in offshore wind, RWE is dedicated to exploring and supporting innovative solutions that can not only accelerate the pace of safe deployment of offshore wind to de-risk the technology, but which can also contribute to a sustainable future.
RWE has ambitious targets to:
To achieve these targets RWE is investing billions of euros in expanding its generation portfolio, in particular in offshore and onshore wind, solar energy and batteries. The company has the aim to be a trailblazer in the rollout of promising innovations. In addition, sustainability is an integral part of RWE’s corporate strategy, with a strong focus on the benefits for local communities and biodiversity conservation and restoration. As such, for our commercial-scale offshore wind projects, we are planning to drive innovative solutions which promote biodiversity, reduce ecological impact and create a mutually beneficial relationship between offshore development and local marine stakeholders.
We strive to make a positive contribution to the communities in which we operate, and recognise that early, consistent and open communication with all of our stakeholders is paramount. We are actively engaging with other ocean users to identify challenges and suitable measures to promote co-use.
RWE has a strong focus on ensuring sustainable floating wind development and we want to accelerate our efforts to find practical, high-impact opportunities that can be deployed on commercial-scale projects.
Therefore, RWE is launching a global “Floating Wind Co-use Competition” that is seeking innovative and sustainable solutions for the following two categories:
SeaGrown wins Innovation Ecology Award for promoting co-existence of marine space
British company SeaGrown is pioneering an innovative solution that utilises the offshore cultivation of sessile seaweed species, such as kelp, as a nature-based solution to increase marine biodiversity and help carbon and nitrogen uptake and oxygen release. This solution will aim to harness the regenerative power of seaweed to provide additional help in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. SeaGrown’s unique modular design minimises navigational risk and enables co-existence with other sea users, enabling the cultivation of North Sea native species all year-round in a dynamic offshore environment.
Cosma wins Innovation Ecology Award for revolutionising environmental monitoring
French company Cosma is developing an integrated solution for large- scale marine biodiversity monitoring: from time-effective, high resolution data collection with its swarm of autonomous underwater drones to easy display and interrogation on the Cosma cloud platform. This time-saving survey methodology identifies benthic habitats by acquiring high-resolution 3D imagery over large acreage. With their innovative AI-assisted mapping and classification methodology, marine species can be identified and their condition can be monitored. The analysed data can help ocean users to make informed decisions. In addition, this innovation has the potential to identify obstacles and monitor benthic ecosystems at deeper and farther offshore sites with more autonomy higher resolution than traditional protocols.
