The European Marine Energy Center (Emec) in Orkney, Scotland, will lead a project to support the development of wave and tidal power in coastal areas of north-west Europe.
The project has been approved by Interreg Atlantic Area which will support ocean energy demonstration throughout the Atlantic Arc.
The 36-month Blue-GIFT (Blue Growth and Innovation Fast Tracked) project will implement a coordinated ocean energy technology demonstration program that encourages longer term demonstration and technology de-risking across the Atlantic Arc regions.
Blue-GIFT will leverage the skills, processes and expertise developed in the Interreg NWE FORESEA program to drive forward the marine energy sector in the Atlantic Arc.
Located in the coastal regions of Spain, France, Portugal, Ireland and Scotland, the Atlantic Arc region represents the areas of highest ocean energy resource in Europe. The development of ocean energy in these regions will help stimulate economic development whilst developing a domestic sustainable energy source to reduce carbon emissions.
The project aims to support a minimum of eight floating wind, wave or tidal demonstration related projects across the Atlantic Arc region.
EMEC will lead a consortium of four ocean energy test centres to maximise the use of existing infrastructure across the Atlantic Arc region.
The Blue-GIFT project is supported by a number of associated partners, comprising regional development agencies and energy agencies, who will sit on a steering group: Ente Vasco de la Energía (EVE), Spain; Cluster Marítimo de Canarias (CMC), Spain; In2sea, Portugal; Region Nouvelle Aquitaine, France; Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), Scotland; and Agence régionale des Pays de la Loire Territoires d’innovation, France.
Matthew Finn, Senior Business Development Manager, EMEC said, “The FORESEA project has been a resounding success for the ocean energy industry in the North-West Europe region; this project is building on the learning from that project and spreading that success across the Atlantic Area."