NEXT OCEAN BV

Their core work

NEXT OCEAN BV is a Delft-based technology SME that develops wave prediction systems and applies them to the control and optimization of offshore wind turbines, particularly floating platforms. Their core proprietary technology predicts ocean wave behaviour in real time, which feeds directly into turbine control algorithms — reducing structural loads, improving energy yield, and lowering the cost of energy (LCOE). In the FLOATECH project they contributed coupled hydrodynamic and aerodynamic modelling, working with the open-source QBlade simulation environment and developing individual pitch control strategies tailored to floating turbine dynamics. The company sits at a technically rare intersection: ocean physics and control engineering, which gives them a differentiated role in floating offshore wind development.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their H2020 history begins in 2018 with a small SME Phase 1 feasibility study (Wave Predictor, EUR 50K) focused entirely on the wave prediction technology itself — at that stage the application context was not yet defined in the available data. By 2021-2023, with FLOATECH, they had made a clear pivot into floating offshore wind as the primary application domain for that technology, embedding it within a coupled aero-hydrodynamic modelling and advanced control framework. The trajectory is logical: wave prediction is a prerequisite for intelligent floating turbine control, and the company appears to have spent the intervening years refining both the tool and the market focus.

They are moving toward becoming a specialist provider of predictive control solutions for floating offshore wind — a sector that is scaling rapidly in Europe — with wave prediction as a proprietary differentiator feeding into aero-elastic simulation and turbine load management.

How they like to work

They have demonstrated both roles: coordinator on a self-initiated feasibility project (Wave Predictor) and technical partner within a multi-partner RIA (FLOATECH), which suggests they are comfortable leading early-stage validation of their own technology while also contributing specialist expertise inside larger consortia. With only 9 unique partners across 4 countries across two projects, their network is compact and likely built around carefully selected complementary teams rather than broad outreach. This points to a partner who engages as a deep technical contributor rather than a generalist project manager.

Nine unique consortium partners across four countries — a relatively small and targeted network consistent with a young technology SME that has prioritised depth of collaboration over breadth. Geographic reach is European but concentrated, likely centred on North Sea offshore wind cluster networks.

What sets them apart

NEXT OCEAN BV occupies a technically specific niche that few SMEs cover: the combination of real-time wave prediction with advanced turbine control for floating offshore platforms. Most turbine control companies do not own a wave prediction technology stack; most ocean sensing companies do not extend into turbine dynamics. Their base in Delft — home to TU Delft, one of Europe's leading offshore wind research institutions — positions them within a dense knowledge ecosystem that is hard to replicate. For a consortium building a floating wind project that needs to close the loop between ocean conditions and turbine response, this company offers capabilities that are difficult to source elsewhere at SME scale.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FLOATECH
  Their largest project (EUR 284,838, 2021-2023) and the one that fully reveals their technical depth — floating turbine control, hydrodynamics, aerodynamics, QBlade, and LCOE analysis in a single RIA consortium.
• Wave Predictor
  Coordinated by NEXT OCEAN as a self-initiated SME Phase 1 project, this confirms that wave prediction is proprietary technology they developed and own, not just a research interest.