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Posts Tagged ‘Netherlands’

Offshore floating solar is probably not a great idea

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on November 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

 The floating solar farm Nymphaea Aurora in port (Amsterdam) – photo credit: Oceans of Energy

“Highlights” from a very good Sealetters account on the Nymphaea Aurora (Netherlands): from massive hype to media silence

26 June 2025 – Festive inauguration: A festive ceremony is held in the Port of Amsterdam by Oceans of Energy to celebrate the successful assembly of the world’s first commercial offshore solar farm “Nymphaea Aurora”. The solar farm is 18.5 kilometers off the Dutch coast near Egmond aan Zee, and consists of 1,400 photovoltaic panels mounted on 196 flotation segments. It is larger than a football field with the expectation to scale up.

9 August 2025 – First fire: Soon after installation at sea Nymphaea Aurora is on fire.

5 September 2025 – Second fire: A second fire breaks out in Nymphaea Aurora. The Dutch Coast Guard extinguishes the fire. Both fires were caused by overheating due to strong solar radiation and faulty panel connectors. The developer calls it a kind of technical childhood disease that is typical for new technology. (Seriously?☹)

fire observed from shore; the solar farm is co-located with an existing wind farm

19 September 2025 – Debris from solar farm starts washing up on the beaches

burnt panel that washed up on beach

20 September 2025: Debris is found all over the beaches of Egmond, Bergen and Schoorl, varying from 20 to 30 cm sized pieces to tiny polystyrene foam fragments. Parts of Nymphaea Aurora wash up on Texel, an island further north on the Dutch coast (photo below).

4 October 2025: Storm batters the Netherlands with wind speeds between 75 and 90 kilometers per hour hitting Noord-Holland. No news about Nymphaea Aurora.

7 November 2025: No news from the developer, Oceans of Energy, since since 27th June 2025 and no updates on LinekdIn since 21 September 2025. It has been very quiet from ‘The company that brought Offshore Solar in high waves from a (perceived) impossibility to a reality.’ It is probably no longer at sea.

You can read the full account here.

Note that the development of Nymphaea Aurora received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under the project BAMBOO, Grant Agreement number 101136142. Funding is reported to be €7 million. “The project seeks to reduce emissions significantly and have a net-positive impact on the marine ecosystem.“ 

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Are the Netherlands Senate elections a positive sign for more rational energy policy?

Posted in climate, energy policy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on March 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The BBB or BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement) party won 17 seats in the Senate, more than any other party.

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Germans and Dutch agree to gas development in the sensitive Wadden Sea, but the US govt can’t hold an oil and gas lease sale anywhere on our massive continental shelf

Posted in energy policy, natural gas, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , on May 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Wadden Sea

Germany will work with the Dutch exploration and production company, ONE-Dyas, to operate a gas field in the North Sea above Schiermonnikoog and the German Wadden island of Borkum, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported on Wednesday.

The announcement was made on Tuesday by Bernd Althusmann, economy minister of the state of Lower Saxony, NOS reported.

“We cannot afford to ask the Netherlands for more gas and continue to refuse to extract our own gas,” Althusmann said.

EURACTIV

Meanwhile, the US offshore program continues to be paralyzed.

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Thank you Jan de Jong!

Posted in Regulation, tagged , , , , on April 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Jan de Jong, Inspector General, State Supervision of Mines, the Netherlands

I want to thank Jan de Jong, Inspector General, State Supervision of Mines (SSM), the Netherlands, for the support he expressed for the former Minerals Management Service at yesterday’s Ministerial Forum in Washington. Jan spoke favorably about his experiences with MMS personnel and questioned the public criticism.

Last year, SSM celebrated its 200th anniversary. I encourage you to view an excellent anniversary video about this very effective regulator. Pay special attention to the description of their regulatory philosophy, which begins at about the 6 minute mark.

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Hydrocarbon Releases

Posted in accidents, conferences, IRF, tagged , , , , , , , on November 2, 2010| 1 Comment »

The above slide is excerpted from Torleif Husebo’s presentation at the Vancouver conference.  Since Piper Alpha in 1988, offshore safety leaders have been gathering and assessing hydrocarbon release data.  Norway, the UK, Australia, the Netherlands and other nations track these data because they are an important indicator of fire and explosion risks. The IRF reports these data as part of their performance measurement project.

Obviously, when hydrocarbons are unintentionally released at an offshore facility you have the potential for a very dangerous situation.   However, because of objections voiced when the MMS updated incident reporting requirements 5 years ago, the US government does not collect the detailed information needed to track the size and cause of these releases.  The US is thus unable to monitor trends and benchmark against other nations around the world.

Offshore companies have done well in responding to the drilling issues raised following the blowout.  However, the post-Macondo offshore industry needs to provide broad safety leadership.  A commitment to collecting performance data and assessing risk trends at OCS oil and gas facilities is absolutely essential.  A good place to start would be to initiate a cooperative hydrocarbon release data gathering program.

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Congratulations to the Netherlands State Supervision of Mines on their 200th Anniversary!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on September 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Queen Beatrix recognizes Jan de Jong, Inspector General, and the State Supervision of Mines

200 jaar Staatstoezicht op de Mijnen!

A regulatory agency does not survive for 200 years without the respect and support of elected officials and the public. The State Supervision of Mines (SSM) in the Netherlands has earned its outstanding reputation through sustained excellence and innovation.

SSM regulates all aspects of oil and gas exploration, production, and transportation, wind projects, and mining activities.

To learn more about the SSM, I encourage you to view this 200th anniversary video. At about the 6 minute mark, pay particular attention to SSM’s regulatory philosophy which emphasizes risk assessment and effective management systems.  SSM does “not focus on nuts and bolts but on the effectiveness of management systems.”

Congratulations to Jan, Roel, Jos, Michael, and the dedicated professionals of the State Supervision of Mines. Keep going strong through anniversaries 210, 220, and beyond!

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