12 / 36
12
ENERGY ANDWATER DOSSIER
reduce costs. But I must admit: any engineer dreams about
making something this big. Even so, our ambition isn't to
plant a big flag in the sea or to have an island named after
us. Other locations are possible and everything doesn't have
to be done exactly as we suggest. Our main aim is to show
that a broader plan is needed and that the plans for the initial
stages will have to be completed in 2017.’
Is offshore wind – whatever the approach – the
solution to our environmental problems?
‘Sun and wind are complementary. That is an important
underlying principle. There is more sun in the summer and
more wind in the winter. So you need both. To achieve the
Paris goals, environmental organisations have calculated
that, in addition to other measures, we need about another
3,000 wind turbines. As far as we are concerned, that is
possible. There is no single solution: what matters is the full
picture. I see it like this: more and more people are driving
electric cars but what is the point if the electricity doesn't
come from a clean source? Apart from the network, energy
storage is also a problem: renewable energy is often generated
just when you don't need it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if
all those electric cars could also be used as batteries for
renewable energy? Those are the types of networks we should
be thinking about.’
What is the main obstacle at the moment to
moving in the right direction?
‘I mean this: there's nothing to stop us at the moment. The
tide is flowing in our direction. Ideas that seemed utopian
five years ago are achievable now. Of course, there are risks.
But they are not technological; they are associated with
international ambitions and cooperation. Where is Europe
headed? Are countries turning inwards, or are we prepared to
face the future together?’
What would be top of your international
agenda?
‘It is incredibly important to sell the story of green energy
properly to the public at large. Wind energy and the inter
national energy market are difficult to understand. The idea
that green energy may be a scam gives the whole sector
a bad image. Barring a few exceptions, that's not fair. But
the idea sticks. And some people go even further: they think
that Dutch green electrons should go to the Netherlands,
and that Danish electrons belong to Denmark. But electrons
don't care about frontiers. Indeed: the more relaxed our
approach to borders, the better for green power. And we are
in a hurry. In my previous job I could read reports all day and
visit conferences about sustainability without making any
progress. That really is a thing of the past. We need to get to
work.’
Swansea Bay in Wales
is one of the rare places
in the world with a huge
tidal variation: 8 to 10
metres. Tidal Lagoon
PLC has plans to create
the world's largest tidal
lagoon here. Anton de
Fockert of Deltares built
the scale model.
TEXT: HARRIOT VONCKEN
IMAGE: TIDAL LAGOON SWANSEA BAY
‘We have known for years that you can use
the tides to generate energy,’ says Anton
de Fockert. The world's first tidal power
plant was built in La Rance, France, in
1966. We now have underwater turbines
that supply 20 MW – more than the