A place to sell yourself – CTO at Ocean Glazer – Northern Times

Say, “It’s a workplace that sells itself more or less.” Ocean Glazer Co-founder and CTO Marijn van Loisi was asked about the company’s work culture. He found it a great place to work, building great technology. He recommends reaching out to anyone interested in the company.

make in the north We spoke with Marijn van Rooij about Ocean Grazer, a Dutch company that develops hybrid solutions for the offshore renewable energy sector.

Ocean Gazer started as a research project that van Rooij joined in 2014 as his master’s degree project. He was then hired by the University of Groningen and continued working on the concept until co-founding the company in 2018.

Ocean Grazer is now looking to strengthen its engineering, project management and business development aspects. If someone with the necessary expertise needs a work permit, Ocean Grazer will be happy to expedite the process.

“Generally, for us, a person’s background doesn’t matter. We’re looking to go global, so it’s good to have different backgrounds,” said van Rooij. increase.

He enjoys working at Ocean Grazer. “The renewable energy sector is changing every day,” explains van Rooij, and the technology the company is working on is in high demand in light of the ongoing energy transition.

Van Rooij found Groningen to be a good fit for Ocean Grazer as it has an ecosystem that features interdisciplinary resources at different levels.

What is Ocean Grazer working on?

The Ocean Grazer team is currently working on Ocean Battery, an offshore and inshore energy storage system.

According to van Rooij, nearly 95% of the world’s energy storage is pumped hydro. This typically occurs in mountainous areas where energy is pumped upwards and then flows to turbines at lower altitudes to generate electricity. Ocean Grazer has used similar principles and adapted the technology to the offshore environment.

“Instead of mountains, we have adapted pumped storage hydropower to water and deeper waters,” explains Van Rooy, “instead of mountains, we use the depth of the ocean and the pressure of the water to create potential energy. are accumulating,” he added. “

“We do that by filling the water-filled ocean floor with large hard reservoirs. When we have surplus energy, we use this to drive pumps that empty the reservoirs and push water back into the ocean. We will send it out,” said van Rooij. When the surplus is gone and power generation is required, the valve is opened and water is returned under pressure to the system. When the water flows backward, the turbine rotates and generates electricity.

“What’s unique about us is that we were able to develop it as a closed system, so we’re not actually pumping seawater in and out,” van Rooij explains.

Apart from marine life, seawater creates a hostile environment for energy storage systems. This puts a strain on the system and shortens its lifespan.

“Put the reservoir in a large flexible bag, which allows the system to remain closed. The water can be either freshwater or once-conditioned seawater. It uses the hydrostatic pressure of the ocean while remaining isolated from the ocean,” says van Rooij.

Video by Julia Dumchenko and Daindra Utami.

This article is make in the north‘s Corporate Spotlight series focuses on companies in the North that employ foreigners.