The Ministries of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) and the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) of the Netherlands, along with the Ministry of Economic Development (MEO) of Curaçao, signed an agreement on May 24 for the production of offshore floating wind energy and the establishment of a hydrogen production chain in Curaçao. The agreement offerssignificant growth and innovation opportunities for the involved governments, industries, and knowledge parties.

Collaboration

The agreement follows an earlier Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Netherlands and Curaçao dated May 15, 2023, and recent agreements. It stems from the Curaçaoan government's desire to achieve a full energy transition to create broad socioeconomic and societal impacts from its export position.

Curaçao aims to collaborate on an equal basis with the Dutch government, businesses, and knowledge institutions for the production of offshore wind energy through floating wind turbines. One of the goals is to establish a scalable hydrogen value chain.

During the demo phase, the technical, logistical, and operational business cases will be coordinated with organizations specializing in floating offshore wind and sustainable fuel production. From the Netherlands, this input will be coordinated through IRO, the trade association for Dutch suppliers in the offshore energy industry; NedZero, the wind energy trade organization; and NLHydrogen.

Response from the Trade Organizations:

IRO, NedZero, and NLHydrogen are pleased with the agreement.

"The transition to sustainable energy production requires significant global efforts to develop floating offshore wind farms suitable for deeper waters.

Therefore, it is a unique opportunity to deploy the knowledge and expertise of the Dutch offshore wind and green chemistry industry worldwide for the production of offshore wind energy in Curaçao using floating wind turbines. One of the goals is to establish a hydrogen chain here.

Curaçao possesses a unique set of characteristics: deep water directly off the coast, deep-sea ports, high wind efficiency, and the island is outside the hurricane region – making a collaboration between Curaçao and the Netherlands very logical and desirable.

The current geopolitical and economic tensions make it even more important to cooperate within our Kingdom.

The Dutch involved industry is very eager to connect its knowledge, skills, and strengths with those of Curaçao. Consequently, following the signing of the agreement, delegates will come to Curaçao in early July to make further arrangements with all parties involved."