FLASC HPES - Pilot Plant
Project Date: 2025-2026
Location: Delft / Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Grant agreement ID: 101161553
EU Contribution: €2,499,991.38
Project Description
Onshore qualification and grid-compliance as the final step towards market entry
As the world transitions to renewable energy, wind power is projected to supply 12% of global energy by 2050, with offshore wind contributing 20% of that total. However, the unpredictable nature of wind creates challenges for maintaining a stable electricity supply. This intermittent energy source requires robust storage solutions to match supply with demand. Addressing these issues is critical for maximising the potential of offshore wind.
FLASC presents an innovative solution tailored for offshore wind farms. Its unique energy storage system, combining pneumatic pre-charging with an ocean-based isothermal process, offers a compact and cost-efficient alternative. By enhancing energy flexibility and profitability, FLASC HPES supports the REPowerEU goal of 60 GW offshore wind capacity by 2030.
Objectives
Background
By 2050, 12% of world primary energy supply will come from wind, of which 20% will come from offshore wind (source: DNV‘s Energy Transition Outlook). This poses a significant challenge to the electricity supply due to wind’s intermittent and unpredictable nature. Thus, energy storage is a decisive factor in exploiting the full potential of offshore wind power.
By providing a tailored technology for the offshore wind energy market, we are addressing two of the biggest challenges in the energy industry: (1) temporal mismatch and (2) spatial mismatch.
FLASC HPES will enable the integration of large-scale energy storage into offshore renewables, catalysing the development of this nascent market.
FLASC addresses client-specific Pain Points, bridging the gap for offshore wind developers who are currently exposed to wind intermittency, demand fluctuations, grid congestion and market volatility. A FLASC energy storage system within the windfarm introduces flexibility to the energy supply, increasing profitability which will enable a scale-up in new offshore windfarm deployments.
FLASC HPES is a unique energy storage system tailored for offshore that combines two innovations: (1) pneumatic pre-charging, which avoids reliance on hydrostatic pressure and (2) using the ocean as a natural heat sink. The system can be installed in shallow water (~40-400m) and it is suitable for fixed-bottom and floating applications. FLASC is unique when compared to other offshore energy storage concepts because it is compact and less expensive, has a lower environmental impact, and can be co-located in shallower waters within the footprint of the windfarm.
With the REPowerEU Plan (the European Commission’s plan to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels) aiming at 60GW of installed capacity of offshore wind energy by 2030, FLASC will play a key role in meeting the energy targets while reducing dependence on fossil fuels and gas imports.
