Van Oord Participates in Living Lab Curaçao

January 27, 2021 | Alternative Energy | Energy Facts Staff Writer | 4min

In ten years Curaçao is expected to play a leading role in the field of renewable energy, and in twenty years it should be a major exporter of renewable energy in the Caribbean. To achieve this ambition, a Living Lab, in which the government of Curaçao, TNO and the University of Curaçao (UoC) will collaborate with Dutch and Curaçao companies, is being built.

The participating organisations have announced this in a joint statement. Besides Van Oord, participating organisations from the Netherlands are the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Damen Shipyards, high-tech company VDL Groep and storage company Vopak. The Curaçao-based ones are the Refineria di Kòrsou (RdK) oil refinery, Aqualectra water and energy company, Selikor waste disposal company, and the ABC bus company.

Triple helix: knowledge, businesses, government
The Living Lab consists of a joint research and development programme to make the transition to a sustainable economy a reality. The living lab is supported by the government of Curaçao, the Dutch Ministry of Defence, NL Works, and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) also welcome the initiative.

Organising sustainable energy supply chains
The Living Lab will be an open ecosystem where innovations are tested on a relatively small scale. It is also about setting up sustainable energy supply chains from generation to conversion and storage, right through to distribution and consumption. The energy transition will only be a success when all parts of the supply chain are seamlessly coordinated.

Quicker innovation and scaling up
The idea behind the project is that supply chain innovations can be established more quickly on an island scale, and should they turn out to be successful, they can also be rapidly scaled up. The Living Lab will mean there is a continuous exchange of ideas and knowledge between Curaçao and the Netherlands. Consequently, the participating companies will increase their sales market in the region and develop new export products for the Dutch and world markets.