OMNI Features｜UK Urged to Take Action on Energy Storage to Safeguard Energy Security．Simply Blue Joins the First Offshore Wind Seaweed Farm Project．Japanese Enterprises Corporations to Launch a Consortium in Taking Lead on Floating Wind Development

｜UK Government Urged to Take Immediate Action on Energy Storage to Safeguard Energy Security
The Committee's report on long-duration energy storage concludes that the Government must act fast to ensure that energy storage technologies can scale up in time to play a vital role in decarbonising the electricity system and ensuring energy security by 2035.

Long-duration energy storage can reduce curtailment of renewables and grid congestion. This can bring down electricity costs and allow a greater amount of cheap renewable power to be integrated into the system. Whilst the Committee welcomes the Government's recent reforms to the energy system, such as committing to produce a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, the report raises concerns that it is not clear who will be responsible for implementing this plan or how future energy supply crises will be managed.

Baroness Brown the Chair of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee said: "The Government says it wants to deploy enough storage both to balance and to decarbonise the electricity system by 2035, but we are not on track. Long-duration energy storage facilities can take 7–10 years to build, so action is needed now to ensure the private sector sees a clear case to invest and to slash planning delays and grid connection queues if we are to have the required infrastructure in place by 2035."

｜Simply Blue Joins Consortium to Develop First-Ever Commercial-Scale Seaweed Farm Located in Offshore Wind Farm
Ireland-headquartered Simply Blue Group has joined the North Sea Farm 1 (NSF1) project consortium to develop the world's first commercial-scale seaweed farm located within an offshore wind farm. Located off the coast of the Netherlands in the North Sea, the 10-hectare farm is planned to become operational in autumn 2024 when it will be deployed and seeded, with the first harvest expected to be in spring 2025.

The project is sponsored by Amazon's Right Now Climate Fund. The consortium aims to help address climate action targets in Europe by tapping into the vast potential of seaweed cultivation. It is managed by a consortium of scientific researchers and partners from the seaweed industry, led by the non-profit organisation North Sea Farmers (NSF). Van Oord and Algaia are also joined by the organisation on the North Sea Farm 1 project.

｜Japanese Enterprises Corporations to Launch a Consortium in Taking Lead on Floating Wind Development
14 Japanese companies are looking to stay ahead of international rivals in floating offshore wind power, launching a consortium to promote the energy source and develop mass-production technology in the field. Japanese Businesses aim to source 60% of components for offshore wind facilities domestically by 2040. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has approved the initiative, and is also preparing to provide financial assistance.

Utility providers like Kansai Electric Power, Chubu Electric Power, JERA and Tokyo Gas will take part, as well as wind power units of trading houses Marubeni and Mitsubishi Corp. Each company will invest in the consortium, with exact amounts still pending.

Reference: UK Committees｜offshorewind.biz｜NikkeiAsia