The vision of José Pinheiro, CEO of Ocean Winds
This interview was conducted with José Pinheiro, CEO of OW Ocean Winds Portugal, with responsibility for the Iberian market, as part of the Blue Compass project, promoted by the Hub Azul Portugal Network, based on insights from the Hub Azul Dealroom, the leading digital matchmaking platform for blue innovation.
Is the ocean renewable energy sector evolving at the pace needed to meet energy and climate targets? What is still missing?
In order to fulfil the energy and climate targets, we can see that there is still a lot to be done in the ocean renewable energy sector, if we consider that:
– Renewable energies currently supply only 15 per cent of all electricity on the planet;
– It will be necessary to reach 60 per cent renewable energy production by 2030 and 90 per cent by 2050 in order to achieve the desired carbon neutrality;
– 70% of the planet’s surface is covered by the ocean.
The ocean will undoubtedly provide the largest source of renewable energy yet to be exploited (be it waves, tides, temperature or salinity gradients, or the wind generated in the ocean) as an alternative to non-renewable sources, which means that there is still a lot to be done in the field of the ocean.
If we just focus on offshore wind energy – which there is already a consensus that will play a very important role in the energy transition towards carbon neutrality – there is currently 70 GW of installed capacity, and it is expected to be 600 GW by 2050; reinforcing the previous idea that there is a need to accelerate the pace.
At Ocean Winds we currently have a portfolio of more than 18.8 GW of offshore wind (fixed and floating), spread across 8 countries, working daily with the aim of continuing to be key players in this energy transition.
What are the main gaps that still hinder the scalability of offshore projects in the energy sector? How can they be overcome?
The challenges are generally transversal to all renewable energies that need to gain scale of implementation. And scalability is essential over the next few years to ensure that we achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement and project this transition towards 2050.
In order to scale up offshore renewable energies, we need to ensure a number of factors, including the following:
. Development of energy policies: energy policies must be correct and agreed between countries, in order to guarantee stability and cohesion.
. Regulation: enabling the sale of the electricity produced (either to the electricity system or to the end consumer).
. Financing: billions (of euros) of investment.
. Supply chain: we also need to gain another scale, so that we can refer to a truly global industry.
. Human Resources: We need to have more people properly trained to fulfil these roles throughout the sector’s value chain.
What are the main challenges in integrating ocean renewables into the electricity grid and liaising with utilities and system operators?
The fact that electricity grids have to expand out to sea is something we see as a natural consequence of the evolution of electricity systems. Obviously, there are challenges at sea that don’t exist on land, but I don’t think the big challenges at the moment are technological. It’s still essentially a question of the direction of energy policy and the definition of regulation; perfectly determining the role of the project promoter and the network operator, as well as clearly identifying the interfaces. It is essential to balance the risks of each of these players, which are essential if these projects are to be feasible at all levels – technical and financial.