Innovative battery developer Elestor winner Offshore Wind Innovators - Jury and Audience - Award 2022

Innovative battery developer Elestor winner Offshore Wind Innovators -Jury and Audience - Award 2022

Both the jury and the audience declared Elestor the winner of the Offshore Wind Innovators Awards 2022.
The Offshore Wind Innovators Awards are awards organized by TKI Wind op Zee to reward innovative contributions to the offshore energy transition.
The jury was unanimous in their top 3 with Elestor, FLASC and TechBinder. The winners show that the offshore energy sector is working hard on solutions to realize the leap forward to 21 Gigawatt of clean energy from the North Sea in 2030 and to provide our country with a constant flow of clean energy.

A jury of renowned professionals evaluates the entries each year. This year’s jury consisted of Suzanne van de Beek of energy company Vattenfall, Jakob Bergvelt of financial advisors Green Giraffe, and was chaired by Simon Watson, professor of Wind Energy Systems at TU Delft and director of DUWIND. The jury assessed the entries on their contribution to the energy transition at sea. For example, does an innovation help to cope with the pressing shortage of personnel or does the idea contribute to a stable energy supply?

Elestor unanimous winner for the jury

“Elestor convinces with feasibility and entrepreneurship. The organization is already robust. Elestor is well advanced in the development of the flow battery with bromine and hydrogen and the practical applicability has been proven,” said the jury about Elestor.

Elestor’s idea is a power battery with hydrogen bromide. With the help of electricity, hydrogen bromide splits into hydrogen and bromine. The battery is then charged and provides power when hydrogen and bromine come back together. These raw materials are widely available worldwide – they can be extracted from seawater – and the concept can easily be scaled up to large storage parks. This makes it a robust and inexpensive way to realize energy storage.

“This makes Elestor the most credible entry when it comes to scaling up the idea to offshore industrial application, that scalability is a big plus. This is an innovative application of the flow battery, which can help accelerate offshore wind extraction.”

The audience was also very clear in their vote. About half of their votes went to Elestor.

FLASC also offers energy storage solutions

According to the jury, the Maltese-Dutch FLASC scores high in solving one of the biggest challenges for wind energy: large-scale and economic storage. “The system seems very suitable for resolving imbalances in the energy supply in the short term. If this can be scaled up, the economic impact could be enormous. Moreover, the solution is environmentally friendly, only pressure and sea water are used, without chemical components.”

Since FLASC tested a prototype in Malta, many offshore wind parties have already come knocking on their door.

TechBinder helps solve workforce shortages and fleet management

TechBinder’s augmented reality system enhances the human-machine relationship. Technicians do not transfer their knowledge to one successor, but to a data system that several colleagues can consult. This way, technical knowledge is not lost when people leave. The jury was enthusiastic: “We are surprised that a system such as Smart Field Support from TechBinder has not yet been picked up more by the market. It seems so practical. Such a concrete solution to a major problem: the shortage of human capital. The economic and social impact is great: such a system can ensure that offshore wind energy can be applied on a larger scale.”