From energy production to transport and internet traffic, the Netherlands and Europe depend on the North Sea. To enable the many activities that take place there, much more information is needed about its use and condition than is currently available. Communication needs are also increasing, but existing solutions fall short. This film shows how innovation and collaboration are creating new possibilities for data collection and communication – a process that is not only necessary to achieve the desired growth on the North Sea but could also help strengthen its ecosystem.
[This is a video from Rijkswaterstaat, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, with the title: Digital North Sea, an initiative of the Netherlands.]
We face major challenges.
For a start, climate change and biodiversity loss are accelerating.
And despite the global ambition to limit the impacts,
action to improve sustainability is slower than we would like.
After all, space is limited on land.
This makes it difficult to integrate solutions.
In addition, the Internet and energy have become so important to us,
that a damaged network is a serious inconvenience.
And because almost all Internet traffic runs through cables in the sea,
and we are generating more and more energy in the North Sea,
it is alarming that there has been deliberate damage
in European seas in recent years.
How do we become more sustainable
faster and also protect our networks?
The North Sea offers great opportunities for both challenges.
Take sustainability:
More and more wind turbines are appearing
in the Dutch part of the North Sea.
By around 2030, they will probably supply 75%
of the electricity used by the Netherlands today.
Moreover, wind farms can host other initiatives.
Such as solar farms.
They appear to have the capacity to
supply a significant share of our electricity,
and are a valuable supplement to wind energy.
For example, wave energy,
tidal energy
and energy kites could further expand the energy supply.
If we want to make our energy system really sustainable,
then energy storage is indispensable.
And that too is possible in the North Sea.
Such as in the form of seawater batteries,
hydropower plants
and hydrogen production.
Hydrogen also allows you to transport the energy
stored offshore to the onshore network.
Besides the energy transition, the North Sea can
accelerate our nature and food transitions,
by installing artificial reefs and developing
sustainable nurseries, for example.
In doing so, we will not only extract CO2 from the air,
we will also use less farmland and freshwater.
This increase in sustainability requires communication, data storage
and research.
That is why we are developing flexibly deployable
infrastructure that makes this possible.
All this increases the value of the North Sea for the Netherlands.
Moreover, it grows the opportunities for our security.
By applying sensors to current and new uses of the North Sea,
we will learn more about the situation on, in
and above the North Sea.
All that information can be quickly verified using artificial intelligence.
It will allow us to identify risky situations earlier.
Whether they arise unintentionally, or are caused deliberately.
This will allow us to prevent damage, or repair it sooner.
One challenge is that these initiatives need space,
and the North Sea is already extremely busy.
It is also important that our approach is nature-inclusive.
Only then will our result be truly sustainable.
If we want to achieve these ambitions,
we need to apply vision and innovative power.
Just as in the past, when the Dutch made wetlands habitable,
and, in 1927, developed a National Road Plan that
turned separate roads into a coherent road network.
The Netherlands is now also going to
make more efficient use of the North Sea.
We call this initiative The Digital North Sea.
The Dutch government has entrusted this
task to the Offshore Expertise Centre.
Besides preparing the digitalisation process, the
Centre will be coordinating its implementation.
It will be a broad collaboration.
Not only including government, knowledge institutes,
educational institutions and industry,
but also other North Sea countries.
The payoff from this will be greater than just sustainability and safety.
Because as we collect more data on the North Sea,
our understanding in many areas will improve.
As a result, many activities can be optimised.
Among other things this will reduce travel movements and emissions.
The Digital North Sea will also enable high-speed data traffic at sea.
And because this connection will be standardised,
it will improve access there.
In addition, The Digital North Sea will promote
innovation and offshore economic activity,
which will have a number of positive effects on
the Netherlands’ gross domestic product.
Lastly, digitalisation makes access lanes
and facilities consistently available.
This will allow safe growth of maritime transport,
protecting the enormous economic value of the North Sea.
With The Digital North Sea we are building on our successes.
Which is also reflected in The Digital North Sea’s architecture.
By better protecting the enormous value of our sea,
and making smarter use of opportunities,
we strengthen our security and accelerate the energy transition
as well as our food and nature transitions.
The project fits perfectly with the Dutch tradition of
ambition, landscape management and innovation.
[Participate by emailing: Digitalenoordzee@rws.nl]
[We are shown a screen with all the names of the companies and organisations who are participating in this project]
[More information? Visit digitalnorthsea.nl]
[This is a production of Rijkswaterstaat 2023.]